Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life (ISBN 0-7868-6070-7), 1981, is an acclaimed book by two of Disney's Nine Old Men

Disney's Nine Old Men

Disney's Nine Old Men were the core animators at The Walt Disney Company who created some of Disney's most famous works, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs onward to The Rescuers. Walt Disney jokingly called this group of animators his "Nine Old Men," referring to Robert S...

, Ollie Johnston

Ollie Johnston

Oliver Martin Johnston, Jr. was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death. He was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989...

 and Frank Thomas

Frank Thomas (animator)

Franklin M. "Frank" Thomas was an American animator. He was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as the Nine Old Men....

. It is widely considered to be one of the best books ever published on the topic of character animation

Character animation

Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process concerning the animation of one or more characters featured in an animated work. It is usually as one aspect of a larger production and often made to enhance voice acting. The primary role of a Character Animator is to be the...

. It tops the list of "best animation books of all time" in a poll at AWN

Animation World Network

Animation World Network is an organization for animators, with an extensive website with news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. AWN also publishes a printed journal, "Animation World"....

 http://news.awn.com/index.php?&newsitem_no=1454.

Totalling five hundred and seventy-six pages, a revised edition, with the inverted title The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation was published October 19, 1995. It contains four hundred eighty-nine plates in full color, and thousands of black and white illustrations ranging from storyboard sketches to entire animation sequences, all of which illustrate the exquisite art of Disney style animation. The philosophy of the Disney animators is expressed in the so-called 12 basic principles of animation

12 basic principles of animation

The Twelve Basic Principles of Animation is a set of principles of animation introduced by the Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. Johnston and Thomas in turn based their book on the work of the leading Disney animators from...

.

The book gives many glimpses into the workings of the animation masters at Disney's during the Golden Age of animation. It is a frequently used reference among professional animators.

Criticism

In recent times, the book has come under attack from some animation professionals. John Kricfalusi

John Kricfalusi

Michael John Kricfalusi , better known as John K., is a Canadian animator. He is creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, its adults-only spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", The Ripping Friends animated series, and Weekend Pussy Hunt, which was billed as "the world's first interactive web-based...

, known for his dislike of content in Disney films, has largely dismissed the book as "Disney propaganda". Animation historian Michael Barrier

Michael Barrier (historian)

Michael Barrier is an American animation historian. Barrier was the founder and editor of Funnyworld, the first magazine exclusively devoted to comics and animation. It began as a contribution to the CAPA-Alpha amateur press association...

has also criticised the book.