Talking Animals and Other People/the Autobiography of One of Animation's Legendary Figures

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From Publishers Weekly Culhane's frank, conversational autobiography describes his 50 years as one of the artists who helped bring animated cartooning from its flip-the-pages beginnings to its present levelin the author's view, that of fine art. From an impoverished New York boyhood, Culhane worked his way to become a novice with a California-based genius named Walt Disney, who in time chose him to animate the opening "Hi-Ho" sequence in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the film that built the Disney empire and one that permanently influenced the animated film industry. Before and after Disney, Culhane worked with pioneers like Max Fleischer and Walt Lantz, as well as legendary artists Grim Natwick, Norm Ferguson and others. The account follows the technical growth of animation up to today's computerized wonders, which the author praises. Students and nostalgia buffs will treasure his book, for different reasons. The assessment of Disney is fine-tuned and fair, and while Culhane's post-Disney career is less interesting, the tale of the making of Snow White remains richly amusing. Illustrations. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Library Journal In the history of animated films, the name Shamus Culhane may not carry as much weight as that of Walt Disney or Walter Lantz or the Fleischer brothers. But, in fact, Culhane worked with all these and many others in a fruitful and turbulent career that spanned more than 50 years. Culhane's memoirs are a model of the form, as he effortlessly combines personal anecdotes (not all of them self-serving) with detailed insider's looks at how animated films are produced. Among the book's many strengths are the honest assessments of the legends of animation, their strengths and weaknesses as both people and artists. Because Culhane worked on everything from Betty Boop, Pluto, and Popeye to TV advertising and assembly-line Saturday-morning cartoons, his life mirrors the history of animation in this country. A first-rate book. Thomas Wieher, formerly with "American Film," Washington, D.C.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more