Author: Christopher Finch
Hardcover: 504 pages
Publisher: Abrams; New edition
Release Date: October 1, 2011
Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars
Walt Disney has been a major influence on my life. I grew up watching the films and still today adore them all. I really look forward to sharing them with my soon-to-be daughter (due May 23, 2012). In fact, I even moved from NY to FL, just to be closer to the parks. This book is honestly the ultimate tribute to the art of Disney and The Walt Disney Company. This is not a new release though, the original edition was published in 1973 and since then there has been many revised and expanded editions released in 1975, 1995, 2004, and now 2011. If you are a Disney fan and don’t own this book, I highly recommend it. If you own past revisions, I would still recommend it because there is so much content added into this latest edition that it completely makes it worth wild.
The newest edition of the book covers the ever changing and expanding history of The Walt Disney Company. Author Christopher Finch didn’t just slap a few new pages and re-released this. He literally updated every chapter to showcase the achievements of The Walt Disney Company in not only filmmaking but also theater, and theme parks. There are a few new chapters though, focusing on mostly Pixar Animation Studio and the new work from Walt Disney Animation Studio like “Tangled”, as well as updated theme park information.. There are also new extensive interviews CEO, John Lasseter, and president, Ed Catmull. This also includes a foreword by John Lasseter. John is such a legend and has aided so much to the Disney legacy with his work over the years.
For a book that was published originally almost 40 years ago, this still relevant and still packs new information even for super fans like me. That is the other thing actually, even though the film is called “The Art Of”, it isn’t just colorful photos. It comes jam-packed with endless thorough information, I enjoyed that the most. You can really tell that author Christopher Finch is a super fan himself. I really looks forward to future revisions of this book. The Disney company will continue to grow throughout the years and will always have special place in my heart.
When you think about art and animation, Disney is the first to come to my mind. They are easily the most successful and influential in the business. This book contains some really amazing concept art, animation drawings and archival materials. Even if you have seen previous editions of this book, this edition literally contains hundreds of new images capturing, well…The Art of Walt Disney. Let me just tell you how beautiful these images look. Abrams did an amazing job with this release and delivers the highest quality images. Whether you are reading this book for yourself or introducing it to your children, it is a great way to keep the Disney legacy going.