Watch Me Move: The Animation Show, Edited by Greg Hilty and Alona Pardo
Watch Me Move: The Animation Show inspires readers to log on to You Tube and view the historic films discussed. (My first stop was El hotel electric a 1908 stop-motion film made by Segundo de Chomon in which everything is automated—even the hotel’s guests’ hair braids itself. Second stop: Winsor McCay’s Gertie the Dinosaur [1914].)
Watch Me Move: The Animation Show is a fantastic journey through the history of animation, and a gallery of animation art, both historic and contemporary. In its pages you will find Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, The Simpsons, The Flintstones, Mickey Mouse, Princess Mononoke, Wallace and Grommit, The Jetsons, and scores of other popular animations. Different animation techniques are explained and there are profiles of a variety of animation artists, their work, and styles.
Readers will not find all their favorites, despite the abundance of examples offered. For example, Tim Burton is included in a section of brief biographies, but there is no mention of The Nightmare Before Christmas and the only art shown is from Vincent, a six-minute film (narrated by Vincent Price) made in 1982 that foreshadows much of Burton’s future work.
Editors Greg Hilty and Alona Pardo have done a distinguished job of assembling a collection of photographs that delight the eye and bring old memories to the fore. It would be impossible to include everyone’s favorites in one volume; Hilty and Pardo, instead, offer samples of classic and modern animation (including Jurassic Park’s dinosaurs and Avatar), with a plethora of information about the art and the artists. Published August 9, 2011, Watch Me Move: The Animation Show is both a comprehensive history of and a respectful salute to the art of animation.
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