The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, and Inspiration from Disney's Great Animators

PREFACE

One day in the late 1970s I discussed Disney animation with my life-drawing teacher. “Anybody can learn how to animate like Disney,” he claimed. “It’s all technique, but no art.” I was shocked! This man was a terrific teacher and an artist in his own right. I doubted his judgment quietly, having already spent endless hours studying the fluid motion of Disney animation with the help of Super-8 film clips. I could not imagine that anybody could learn to animate like this by picking up a few simple tricks. It seemed to me that in order to create life through drawings, an artist had to become very involved and committed.

My art school didn’t offer any animation classes, which meant if I wanted to pursue a future career in animation, a self-taught ...