Computer Animation Arts

It's already old news that Disney's pop-culture behemoth Frozen is gay-propaganda... What?  You haven't heard the theories that make Frozen the gayest movie of the year?  Here's a quick summary for those of you who've not been paying attention, courtesy of Steven D. Greydanus @ www.ncregister.com . "With her ice powers, Elsa is notably different from other people. “Born this way or cursed?” asks the troll king, and her parents confirm that she was born that way. Nevertheless, her difference is an occasion of fear and secrecy. Misguidedly, her parents teach her to “conceal it, don’t feel it.” This repression of her true nature leads to isolation, anxiety and finally a meltdown at Elsa’s coronation, at which she inadvertently outs herself, revealing her ice powers for all to see. Regarded with fear and revulsion by others, Elsa defies the society that has rejected her as well as the unjust strictures placed on her by her parents, celebrating her ...

The Walt Disney Animation Studios - The Archive Series  is a four volume set consisting almost solely of images and material taken from the Disney Research Library. The content over the four volumes is hugely varied - ranging from storyboards, animation frames, quickly drawn character sketches to perfectly rendered concept art and background designs.  I could of featured any one of the four books currently released, but as almost everyone on CG Arts is in the midst of creating worlds and developing their own visual style in 2D form, it seemed apt to recommend Design - the most spectacular book in the series.  Design features sometimes rarely seen before concept art and designs of just about every major film Disney Animation Studios has produced. There's nothing quite like looking at page after page of lovingly realised art work, and at a meaty 250 pages, the book delivers that expectation in spades. It's relatively new therefore covers shorts and feature ...

The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms and Beyond   by Christopher Finch The very definition of 'heavy reading' if only because the book is a 500 page juggernaut - it's absolutely huge and weighs a ton. Otherwise, it's a very digestible and easy to read history of Disney and the artists working behind the scenes, developing the ideas which ultimately make Disney cartoons as beautiful as they are. As expected for an art book about Disney , expect some absolutely glorious images. Finch's seminal book, originally published in 1973,  has seen numerous reprints and revisions and was most recently revised in 2011 to include an extensive section on Pixar . I prefer the older editions which go into more depth about slightly obscurer Disney cartoons and these copies also feature some lovely pull-out double page spreads of Disney art. Even its modern, slightly truncated form, this book is still the de facto study into Disney's st...