 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Book - Out-of-print. 
| "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons" by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald: a 385-page guide to every Warner Brothers animated short. Every cartoon has a description and credits are presented when available. Since this book was written in 1989, most of the material isn't out-of-date, but there are a few cartoons missing from the guide (these were discovered after the book was written). None of these are actual Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, but obscure animation such as promotional spots for "Lad: A Dog" and a series of cartoons made for the Navy during the second World War ("Mr. Hook"). The book has 225 black-and-white illustrations and photos. This comprehensive guide is highy recommended. | ||
|
| |||
|
Bugs Bunny and Friends Book - Out-of-print. | "Bugs Bunny and Friends: A Comic Celebration" by Mark Evainer: 158 pages; a look at the evolution of classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies comics, includes the very first Bugs Bunny comic (an adaptation of "A Wild Hare"). Also contains various recent comics published by DC. | ||
|
| |||
|
Chuck Amuck Book
| "Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist" by Chuck Jones: 302 pages; Chuck Jones recounts various details of his life that led him to cartooning, and what it was like making the cartoons (including a humorous account of their cartoon producer in the 1950s, Eddie Selzer), and contains dialogue scripts and several full-color photo pages. Black-and-white illustrations and photos throughout the book, filmographies for what characters he worked on, what cartoons he directed (including his Tom and Jerry's), and what cartoons he worked on when he was an animator in the 1930s. | ||
|
| |||
|
Chuck Reducks Book - Out-of-print. | "Chuck Reducks: Drawing From the Fun Side of Life" by Chuck Jones, forward by Robin Williams: 286 pages; Chuck Jones gives advice on how to draw animals. Also includes various analyses of different minor Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters and lists of unused titles for various animated shorts. | ||
|
| |||
|
That's All Folks Book - Out-of-print.
| "That's All Folks: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation" by Steve Schneider: 250 pages; divided into two sections. "The Studio" chronicles the growth of the animation studio at Warner Brothers from the 1930s to 1960s, while "The Stars" looks at the major characters of the cartoons. Includes extensive information on the directors and artists and various animation drawings, color cels, layout sketches, and background art. | ||
|
| |||
|
Bugs Bunny: Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare Book - Out-of-print.
| "Bugs Bunny: Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare" by Joe Adamson: a look at the creation and development of Bugs Bunny. Contains more than 400 illustrations. | ||
|
| |||
|
A Flurry of Drawings Book - Out-of-print. | "Chuck Jones: A Flurry of Drawings" by Hugh Kenner: 114 pages; a brief history of animation and Chuck Jones' contribution to it. | ||
|
| |||
|
Tex Avery: King of Cartoons Book - Out-of-print
| "Tex Avery: King of Cartoons" by Joe Adamson: 237 pages; a look at Tex Avery's work at Termite Terrace which includes interviews with Michael Maltese, Heck Allen, and Tex Avery himself. | ||
|
| |||
|
Reading the Rabbit Book | "Reading the Rabbit" by Kevin S. Sandler: 271 pages; a collection essays on the subject of Warner Bros. cartoons. | ||
|
| |||
|
Warner Bros. Animation Art Book | "Warner Bros. Animation Art: The Characters, the Creators, the Limited Editions" by Will Friedwald and Jerry Beck: 245 pages; takes a look at the collectible animation art that has been released by Warner Brothers over the past four decades, with background history and a complete showcase listing all of the cels: almost are pictured, and all have their release year and original price documented. | ||
|
| |||
|
Looney Tunes: Ultimate Visual Guide Book | "Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide" by Jerry Beck: 144 pages; a full-color book full of illustrations and light on text: includes lobby cards, screen captures, photos, and various other illustrations. Includes pages on major and minor characters, the art of "What's Opera, Doc?" gets a few pages devoted to it, and there are pages dedicated to the recent "Duck Dodgers" television show and the 2003 feature film "Looney Tunes: Back in Action." | ||
|
Disney: Ultimate Visual Guide Book | "Disney: The Ultimate Visual Guide" by Russell Shroeder: 128 pages; full-color book. Similar to the Looney Tunes Ultimate Visual Guide by Jerry Beck: lots of photos and screen captures, but rather light on text. While this book does spend a lot of time on the classic animation of Walt Disney (even mentioning "Song of the South" from 1946), be aware that a good portion of the book is dedicated to post-Walt animation from the Disney company, including films like "Pocahontas" and "Tarzan." | ||
|
| |||
|
Nine Old Men Book | "Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation" by John Canemaker: 310 pages; John Canemaker takes a look at the "nine old men" of Walt Disney, including Ward Kimball, Marc Davis, and Frank Thomas. | ||
|
| |||
|
The Disney Treasures Book | "The Disney Treasures" by Robert Tieman: 64 pages; includes audio CD. This book and CD takes a look at the various memorabilia, including pull-out reproductions of 1955 Disneyland tickets and paper masks of Pinocchio (issued by Gillette in 1940). The 60-minute CD included contains radio commercials from the 1950s, previously unheard audio of Walt Disney, and never-before-released tracks from the park's attractions. | ||
|
| |||
|
The Disney Poster Book Book | "The Disney Poster Book: Featuring the Collection of Tony Anselmo" produced by Disney Editions: 96 pages; this large book features posters from classic animated Walt Disney shorts and feature films. | ||
|
| |||
|
The Disney Films Book | "The Disney Films" by Leonard Maltin: 432 pages; the host and producer of the excellent "Walt Disney Treasures" DVD series writes about every single feature film the Walt Disney studio ever released (updated in 2000). Contains more than 140 illustrations. | ||
|
| |||
|
Walt in Wonderland Book
| "Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney" by Russell Merritt and J. B. Kaufman: 168 pages; a look at the silent films of the Disney studio -- characters such as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (who later became a Walter Lantz character) and Alice. | ||
|
Of Mice and Magic Book
| "Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons" by Leanord Maltin: 496 pages; a history of animated cartoons in America with film lists. | ||
|
| |||
|
Before Mickey: The Animated Film (1898-1928) Book
| "Before Mickey: The Animated Film (1898-1928)" by Donald Crafton: 436 pages; the first and only in-depth history of animation from 1898-1928. | ||
|
| |||
|
The Great Cartoon Directors Book - Out-of-print | "The Great Cartoon Directors" by Jeff Lenburg: 261 pages; a look at cartoon directors such as Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, William Hanna, Joe Barbera, Walter Lantz, and others, based on extensive research and exclusive interviews. Contains 50 photographs on special glossy photo sections, a bibliography, index, and filmographies. | ||
|
| |||
|
Tex Avery: The MGM Years Book - Out-of-print | "Tex Avery: The MGM Years" by John Canemaker: 221 pages; Canemaker's insightful commentary is complimented by animation cels, storyboards, and other animation art. | ||
|
| |||
|
Hollywood Cartoons Book | "Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation In Its Golden Age" by Michael Barrier: 672 pages; this book is the result of extensive research and hundreds of interviews with directors, animators, and other people who helped produce the animation of Warner Bros., MGM, Disney, and other Golden Age of Animation studios. | ||
|
| |||
|
50 Greatest Cartoons Book - Out-of-print. | "The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals" by Jerry Beck: 192 pages; exactly as the title says - the fifty greatest cartoons selected by one-thousand animation professionals. Cartoons that made the cut include "What's Opera, Doc?" - WB (#1), "Duck Amuck" - WB (#2), "Three Little Pigs" - Disney (#11), "Popeye Meets Sinbad" - Fleischer (#17), and even the independent "Bambi Meets Godzilla" (#38). | ||
|
| |||
|
The Cartoon Music Book Book
| "The Cartoon Music Book" by Daniel Goldmark and Yuval Taylor: 336 pages; a history of classic animation music with an interview with Carl Stalling and information on Scott Bradley, among other classic cartoon musicians. | ||
|
| |||
|
The Moose That Roared Book
| "The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squrrel, and a Talking Moose" by Keith Scott: 442 pages; a history of the cartoons of Jay Ward ("Rocky and Bullwinkle"). | ||
|
| |||
|
Out Of The Inkwell: Max Fleischer And The Animation Revolution Book | "Out Of The Inkwell" by Richard Fleischer: 184 pages; a history of the Fleischer studio through the eyes of Max Fleischer's son, Richard. | ||
|
| |||
|
The Fleischer Story Book - Out-of-print. | "The Fleischer Story" by Leslie Carbaga: 216 pages; a history of the Fleischer studio with rare sketches and assorted factoids. | ||
|
| |||
|
The Walter Lantz Story Book - Out-of-print. | "The Walter Lantz Story" by Joe Adamson: 254 pages; the story of Walter Lantz, the man who won a Lifetime Achievement Award for owning a cartoon studio for more than forty years. | ||
|
| |||
|
Nine Lives to Live: A Classic Felix Celebration Book
| "Nine Lives to Live: A Classic Felix Celebration" edited by David Gerstien: 144 pages; a compilation of classic 1920s and 1930s "Felix the Cat" comics written by Otto Messmer. | ||
|
| |||
|
Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat Book - Out-of-print.
| "Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat" by John Canemaker: 378 pages; a comprehensive history of Felix the Cat. | ||
