Animator, educator, author and stalwart proponent of traditional 2D skills Tony White has just launched a new book, Animation Me: An Illustrated Memoir with Pencils, Pixels & Arnie. Available now via Amazon on paperback ($14.95) and Kindle ($2.99 until Feb. 2, $7.95 thereafter), White’s latest scriven effort takes readers along for an incredible ride through all the events, places and encounters enjoyed over a 50-plus-year career in animation.
Winner of the BAFTA Film Award for Hokusai: An Animated Sketchbook, White began his career by apprenticing with three-times Oscar winner, Richard Williams, and studied with some of the legends from the Walt Disney and Warner Bros. golden era. His instruction books on animation are used by numerous colleges around the world, and he currently runs his own online 2D Academy school of animation.
In Animation Me, White tells his fascinating and often unique life story; from art school and early career struggles, to becoming a recognized master animator in his own right. The book is ideal for students, professionals or anyone interested in how the art and industry of animation once was practiced. The book also includes 120 black and white illustrations.
As White explained in his ‘HippyDippyGuru’ newsletter:
“It has been difficult for me to write this book as, in so many ways, a number of the memories it’s invoked have reminded me of the very different world we lived and worked in back there.
In terms of animation, everything we created came from the tip of a pencil, as there were no computers or technology to enable or enhance what we did in those days. Yes, it took longer to create things. But even though we were always fighting against impossible deadlines and often working through the night, we somehow found much joy and satisfaction in throwing all of our knowledge, emotions and imagination into every drawing we did. It was a matter of pride that we tried to create the finest worlds that nobody else cold imagine — especially in my own case, as the personal apprentice of three-times Oscar winner, Richard Williams. In his studio we always were expected to hold ourselves up to the highest standards of the great master animators of Hollywood’s past.
As a result, I do not see this book tribute as in any way a personal ego trip. Instead, it is more seen as a statement of what the world of traditional hand-drawn animation was all about — and still can be in the future if enough people make it so.”
