Animation Now; Anima Mundi/Ed Julius Wiedemann

I bought this book because I have a keen interest in animation, especially animation in film. It is written by the 4 animators who direct Anima Mundi-The International Animation Film Festival of Brazil. It provides an insight into the most diverse techniques, from simple graffiti on paper to sand on glass, to the generation of computer images.

It features animation companies such as “Aardman”, who predominantly use Plasticine animation. They are the makers behind some of my favourite animation, such as Wallace & Gromit, Creature Comforts, and Chicken Run. It goes on to discuss some of the largest animation companies like Walt Disney, which I have grown up watching, as well as Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks, all behind massive blockbusters. I have noticed from reading this book, that animation has gradually changed its audience from children to accommodating adults, not just in the humor and content, but with drawings becoming more realistic looking to be more believable.

This book also features many animators that I have never heard of. Some work is not what I would have related to “animation”, such as work by Joan C Gratz; understandably this is because I am looking at stills of the animations but the method surprises me as its coloured clay, but mixing it like it was paint or ink. However I suppose that I have realised that if it’s a moving image, anything can be animated.