The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation

As any animation student or fan would know, this IS the book he or she would admires and stares for hours. "The Illusion of Life" is not just a history book about the Disney studio, but it goes beyond the history and concept; it goes in deep into storytelling, character animation, background design, concept/script illustration, character design, and many more. The greatest thing about this book is the author and writer, FRANK THOMAS and OLLIE JOHNSTON!!! Two of the veteran and master of Disney animation. They have been working with Disney since Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan... the 40s and 50s! The writing is also very descriptive and easy to understand. Not only they get to the point, they also reveal several secrets and tricks in animation.

I strongly suggest every animation fan and animator to get this book. It is expensive, but not rare to get. It is one of a kind! And do get it before it runs out of print!

This amazing and exhaustivly detailed book describes the magic of the Disney art animation process from the 1920s to present day with many beautiful images of the world's most beloved cartoon characters. Thomas and Johnston were employed from the mid-1930s to 1978 in the Disney animation department and retired to create this book. Essential for anyone involved in animation or the graphic arts !!

At every animation studio I've worked at, they had a copy of this book. Everyone in the buisness I know consider this as the definate animation book. Strange enough, a lot of top animators didn't own a copy because it was out of print. When I bought my copy about 15 years ago, I kind of stumbled over it in a bargain book store because the shop was selling it out for twenty bucks. Only years later it sort of got famous. Probably it didn't sell well because the average reader isn't in the animation buisness. But if you are already or you want to be in the buisness, try everything to get a copy. Even 150 bucks is still cheap compared to the value you get. I mean, a photographer pays ten thousands of dollars for his equipment. An animator only needs a pegbar, an electric pencil-sharpener and this book!

This is a great book and the truth is that it isn't really out of print . I think it is ridiculous to get this book at such a high price at ebay . If they are selling the first print or some autograph one , I had nothing to say . In fact , you can still order this book at ...at a very reasonable price . If you really want this book , I suggest you guy to check it out . BTW , I saw at least 20 copies of this book selling at a local San Francisco bookstore at (price)( still a little bit higher that the original price (price) but it is acceptable ) . I just wonder how come this book will treat as a out of print item ?

...then why is it out of print? I have been looking for this book for a long time. It only appears at used book stores or on ebay at high prices. If it is so great, why is it so hard to find?