[.ca] Animated Cartoons (ISBN 1557094748)

As an animation art teacher I'll use this for my students.:
This book is the best place to start actually making animation. Equipment construction is explained well enough to start a professional studio. Techniques are clearly described and perfect for students of the art. Extras are the theory of what is funny and why, but mostly, the uses animation may serve in education. Many great old illustrations of walks pepper this volume. If you like to draw in ink, this book is for you.

Historical interest only!!!:
Some clarification is needed here - this book is a reprint of a book from 1920, and although you might glean some tips on how to animate that are still relevant, this is NOT the book to buy if you're looking to learn the craft - it has been reprinted purely for historical interest. There's nothing here that is not outdated or superseded. If you want to learn animation, the books you really need are Tony White's 'Animator's Workbook', and Richard Williams's 'Animator's Survival Kit'. That said, if you're already a clued-up animator, or interested in the history of the craft, this is a fascinating book, representing as it does the state of the art just a few years before Disney appeared on the scene and set new standards. Historically - wonderful. Instructionally - look elsewhere.

Complete disappointment:
I don't have the luxury of being able to go to the big store in Canada and America. I order this book along with some others. I wish I could return it, but my international shipping charges would be worth more than the book. This book is outdated. Even at a cheap price, it's not full value. Don't bother. If you looking for animating on the computer and thinking this might be a reference, you're wrong. Save your money. If you're animating in 2D, and you're an absolute beginner, look elsewhere, as it's not good value. Stay away.

A book that made history...:
Maybe I will not read every word of this book, but just knowing it is on my shelf makes me give it 5 stars, being a landmark in the history of animation, also being the book Walt started out with... For animators then, it was comparable to, what Frank & Ollie's 'The Illusion of Life' is now (if you are looking for THE book on animation, start here), or Preston Blair's book (when there only was one) when I started in animation in the 70's...