About the Book:

In Hollywood Cartoons, animation expert and historian Michael Barrier takes you on a glorious guided tour of American animation in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, to meet the legendary artists and entrepreneurs who created Bugs Bunny, Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, Wile E. Coyote, Donald Duck, Tom and Jerry, and many other cartoon favourites.

Beginning with black-and-white silent cartoons, Michael Barrier offers an insightful account, taking us inside early New York studios and such Hollywood giants as Disney, Warner Bros., and MGM. Barrier excels at illuminating the creative side of animation — revealing how stories are put together, how animators develop a character, how technical innovations enhance the "realism" of cartoons. Here too are colourful portraits of the giants of the field, from Walt and Roy Disney and their animators, to Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.

A noted author and widely respected expert in the field, Michael Barrier signed a contract with Oxford University Press in 1973 to write a history of Hollywood animation. The research and writing of this book extended over twenty-four years. Based on hundreds of interviews with veteran animators, Hollywood Cartoons gives you the definitive inside look at this colourful era and at the creative process behind these marvellous cartoons.

What people say:

"Hollywood Cartoons is the best book ever written about golden-age animation." — The Wall Street Journal

"Those who take the art of animation seriously will find this tough-minded book challenging and revelatory." — The New York Times Book Review

"...a magical gift... Michael Barrier's meticulously researched yet enchantingly innocent Hollywood Cartoons restores much of the magic to the cartoon kingdom." — The Boston Book Review

"His book is rich in nuggets that bring the era ... vividly to life." — The Economist

"Barrier makes palpable the rigors of an animator's task, and thereby enhances our appreciation, indeed awe, of their accomplishments." — The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

About the Author:

Michael Barrier is an American animation historian and a recognized authority on film cartoons. For many years he was the publisher and editor of Funnyworld, the most widely respected magazine devoted to the animated film. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.