They Drew as They Pleased: Volume 5: The Hidden Art of Disney’s Early Renaissance (Disney X Chronicle Books)

I've always been a fan of the "scratchy" animation style of 70's Disney for as long as I can remember, but from my ever growing collection of Disney art books I always find them to be under represented. Just as an idea, this book looks at Aristocats, Robin Hood, Bednobs and Broomsticks etc. It covers all my favourites and gives such a scope of art through the 6 or 7 artists they focus on. Volume 5 was my first foray into these books and I am so impressed that I've since purchased volume 4, and have my eye on the rest of them.

If you like art books then this series is a must have. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and Ghez includes lots of interesting insight into the animators. Lucky to scoop this up at a fantastic price.

A truly beautiful book. It was interesting to read and the pictures were beautiful. Got this for my daughter as she is a bit Disney fan and is interested in animation.

Absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to get the rest of the set. Can’t recommend highly enough! Deserves 10 stars!

I have all of them, still the same great book filled with treasures.

As a 27 year old artist raised on the Disney "Bronze Age", this book has a good amount to give for fans of that experimental era. The concept art by Ken Anderson and Mel Shaw are especially lovely. I do feel slight disappointment at the lack of extra focus certain films get i.e. Petes Dragon, Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Just a heads up for those who may be looking for something meatier) but I think the quality of the art itself makes up for it. As for the condition of the book itself, the inside is nicely presented and you get a lot of reading material to boot. The outer sleeve was slightly creased however, which is a bummer since the last book I got in this series was in excellent condition. Regardless though, I am very pleased with what I got and I will definitely use it for inspiration in future.

Perfect

I have now purchased all five books in this series. For anyone that loves the art of the Disney animators you will be very pleased with these books.

The penultimate volume of the They Drew As They Pleased series brings us to the era immediately following Walt’s death. This is frequently referred to as Disney’s Dark Age, because most of the films do not have an engaging or cohesive narrative as the earlier ones did. Walt’s absence as the master story teller is truly felt. Because of this, these films have not been held in high regard by critics nor by the staff that worked on them. (Milt Kahl said in 1976, that they are full of “terrible judgment [in execution].” But to those of us who grew up in the era of vhs, they are delightful nostalgia. It’s also an era that has not been covered in great detail before, so this volume is a real treat. One will notice that only two artists are featured here. It should be noted that the studio was severely downsized after the commercial failure of Sleeping Beauty and the fact that the industry was declining. Very few key people oversaw specific duties in the studio during this dark age. Those that did were very excellent at what they did. The highlights of this volume, Ken Anderson and Mel Shaw were at the top of their game in this era. Both men started in the 1930s. Anderson probably had the most prolific career at Disney’s, next to Marc Davis. Like Davis, Anderson worked in various capacities, hence his status as jack of all trades. Truly an artist’s artist. Mel Shaw left for a period, but then returned. His pastel renderings are the most evocative pieces ever done at the studio. Because both men had a lengthy career at Disney’s, the selected art is not strictly limited to the 70s and 80s, but goes as far back to the 30s and as late as the 90s. We finally have a good dose of art from The Sword In The Stone, The Aristocats, Robin Hood, The Rescuers, The Fox And The Hound, and The Black Cauldron. Art from these films has been sparsely represented in print. The image on page 185 appears to have been altered to remove a cigarette from a snake (the original was on Heritage Auctions a couple years back). Aside from the art, there’s also thorough discussion on how the stories and characters for these films were developed. This is very significant because next to nothing has been written about these films. This was disappointing considering that these films are well known to the casual fan, unlike say the obscure package features of the 40s. The art is nothing short of amazing. It’s great to finally have a heavy dose of Ken Anderson’s art in print. I had hoped to see an in depth coffee table book on Anderson’s art and life story someday, but this is a solid representation. This volume is probably the strongest one to date in terms of not only bringing art from overlooked films to light, but providing the never before told full story behind them.

Un altro libro d'arte straordinario della famosa serie "They Drew as they pleased". Stavolta particolarmente interessante perché tratta di un periodo, gli anni '70 ed '80, che ha prodotto alcuni film Disney che, soprattutto in Italia, sono diventati dei veri e propri "cult", come gli Aristogatti, le Avventure di Bianca e Bernie, Elliott il drago invisibile e Robin Hood. Vedere gli schizzi e bozzetti preparatori per simili titoli, capire come sono stati scelti e cambiati i personaggi e scoprire i tanti segreti dei progetti come "Musicana", che non hanno mai raggiunto lo schermo, è emozionante. Consigliatissimo.

Didier Ghez did it again. This volume was the most expected by me and did not disappoint. Rather, it is a clever analysis of the artistic production of two major Disney studio talents, Ken Anderson and Mel Shaw. For anyone interested in the history of Disney's character and story development in the 1970s and 1980s this book is highly recommended. Not only is it teeming with never-before-seen arts found with the author's archaeological cunning, but the reader is presented with information and images from discarded films of this period. No doubt this series is an indispensable complement to other reference works by authors such as John Canemaker, Charles Solomon and Michael Barrier. Now in Brazilian portuguese: Estou fascinado com o último volume da obra "They Drew as they pleased" - The Hidden Art of Disney's Early Renaissance". O autor dedica o volume a dois grandes artistas do estúdio Disney, Ken Anderson (sei que se trata do favorito do Didier) e Mel Shaw. E há muitas informações e imagens inéditas de projetos dos anos 1970 e 1980, alguns que eu desconhecia. O livro é altamente recomendado para quem deseja conhecer mais da história do desenvolvimento de personagens e dos argumentos das animações das décadas de 1970 e 1980. Um complemento indispensável a outros trabalhos de autores como John Canemaker, Charles Solomon e Michael Barrier.

War als Geschenk für einen Masterstudiengang "Cartoon" gedacht und war sehr zufrieden damit. Die Grafiken und Darstellungen sind sehr detailliert dargestellt

das Packet war schnell da, alles super gemacht