Rating: 
Summary: If you like movie cartoons, this is for you
Review: One might not think animated cartoons would merit a scholarly study, but this is an excellent book for casual cartoon fans and dedicated film buffs alike. Leonard Maltin and Jerry Beck trace motion-picture animation from its comic-strip-character beginnings to the latest technological developments. Some cartoon studios were celebrated (like Disney and Warner Brothers), others unsung (like Van Beuren and Columbia), but all make fascinating reading, enhanced by firsthand accounts by animators, directors, and producers. Excellent as a continuous read or for reference.
Rating:
Summary: If you like movie cartoons, this is for you
Review: One might not think animated cartoons would merit a scholarly study, but this is an excellent book for casual cartoon fans and dedicated film buffs alike. Leonard Maltin and Jerry Beck trace motion-picture animation from its comic-strip-character beginnings to the latest technological developments. Some cartoon studios were celebrated (like Disney and Warner Brothers), others unsung (like Van Beuren and Columbia), but all make fascinating reading, enhanced by firsthand accounts by animators, directors, and producers. Excellent as a continuous read or for reference.
Rating: 
Summary: Best book written on the subject
Review: Rated as 7 because it is now out of date. Mr. Maltin needs to rewrite and up-date the book again or write a second volume starting in the late 60s and running through the 90s. Possibly a separate book covering only television animation since the 50s. I have been using the book as a textbook for my university History of Animation class since 1991, but it becoming less useful since I have to add the last 30 years. Robert Musburger, Ph.D., University of Houston. rmusburger@uh.edu.
Rating:
Summary: THE place to go to learn about animation history
Review: So you are flipping through the channels one night and you come across reruns of an old black and white Looney Tunes cartoon. And it's good. So you want to learn more about these cartoons. Well here is the source for you. Maltin takes a very broad subject, both in terms of years, styles and players, and condenses it into easy to follow chapters. While much attention in animation has been paid to Disney and his animators, there were a lot more out there (and still are today) that strive to work alone, or who wove in and out of the Disney history. Very readable, Maltin takes us through the ups and downs of the major studios. Here are the tales of the origins of characters (how Bugs Bunny got his name due to Bugs Hardaway), how Disney imagined Fantasia as an ever evolving film. How we went from the rich frenetic animation of the 40's to the stilted minimalism of the 60's. In addition there is a reference of output from various studios to help trace the story. Abundently illustrated (though it could always use some more color) it helps connect the names, with the faces, with the characters. Animation has always been looked down upon and the poor cousin of features. Yet they were an integral part of the movie experience years ago, and still see their media explored, and celebrated today. There is certainly enough to fill several competing cartoon channels on TV today. Often our first exposure is the afternoon, or Saturday morning cartoons. But these are only the latest in a noble line of work, that almost suffered a demise in the 70's, only to roar back strong as ever today. If you want to know more about animated cartoons, be sure to start here!
Rating:
Summary: THE book on the history of animated cartoons
Review: This book is specifically about American animated cartoon studios. It is written with knowledge, enthousiasm and love for the subject, and deals not only with Disney, but also with the other studios, even the now almost forgotten Charles Mintz and Van Beuren studios. There is a particular emphasis on style, imagination and innovation of the different story men, animators and directors, who, for the first time, get a face behind their films. A must-read for everyone who is interested in the history of animation and of animated cartoons, in particular. Actually, the book is so great, that one yearns for even more biographical/artistic information on the people behind the cartoons, for example Bert Gillett, Jack Kinney, Robert McKimson, Maurice LeNoble, Scott Bradley (to mention a few). A later edition contains a chapter on the aftermath (animated cartoons and feature films beyond 1965), which is less interesting (as were the cartoons in those days), and stops before the renaissance of cartoons, induced by Ren and Stimpy.
Rating:
Summary: The first "serious" scholarly history of cartoons
Review: This is the book that turned me on to animated films. Well-known movie critic and buff Leonard Maltin wrote the third great book on American animated cartoons (the first two being "The Art of Walt Disney" and "Tex Avery: King of Cartoons"), and he gives us a look at all of the great cartoons of old, from Betty Boop and Koko the Clown through the eras of Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Mister Magoo, and even Fritz the Cat. His book is somewhat out of date now, as this book was published in 1985. Three years later, 1988 proved to be a watershed year in animation with the rebirth of Disney animation in "The Little Mermaid," while "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" made it okay for adults to enjoy cartoons. (Disney's "Duck Tales" also led the way to a new beginning of quality animation for TV, leaving the shoddy kiddie toy merchandising fodder in the dust...almost.) The years following these animation landmarks opened the gates to a flood of terrific cartoons that Maltin's book doesn't cover, including Spielberg's "Tiny Toons" and "Animaniacs;" Disney's "Toy Story;" the mainstream popularization of Japanese animation; quality children's cartoons with "Rugrats," "Bobby's World," and "Doug;" Warner Bros.' animated "Batman" and "Superman;" animation aimed at older audiences with "The Simpsons" and "South Park;" and so much more. The the animation renaissance of the past dozen years or so has brought a new rebirth to the animation industry...and in fact, the definitive book on the new era of animation hasn't been written yet. But the cartoons of the Golden Age are widely available, and indeed, they are still broadcast on TV every day, more than fifty years after such great live-action contemporaries as Bogart, Cagney, and so many others have passed into the archives of movie history. Maltin's book is an exceptional, delightful look into an innocent era of animation that has finally taken its rightful place in film history.
Rating:
Summary: The first "serious" scholarly history of cartoons
Review: This is the book that turned me on to animated films. Well-known movie critic and buff Leonard Maltin wrote the third great book on American animated cartoons (the first two being "The Art of Walt Disney" and "Tex Avery: King of Cartoons"), and he gives us a look at all of the great cartoons of old, from Betty Boop and Koko the Clown through the eras of Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Mister Magoo, and even Fritz the Cat. His book is somewhat out of date now, as this book was published in 1985. Three years later, 1988 proved to be a watershed year in animation with the rebirth of Disney animation in "The Little Mermaid," while "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" made it okay for adults to enjoy cartoons. (Disney's "Duck Tales" also led the way to a new beginning of quality animation for TV, leaving the shoddy kiddie toy merchandising fodder in the dust...almost.) The years following these animation landmarks opened the gates to a flood of terrific cartoons that Maltin's book doesn't cover, including Spielberg's "Tiny Toons" and "Animaniacs;" Disney's "Toy Story;" the mainstream popularization of Japanese animation; quality children's cartoons with "Rugrats," "Bobby's World," and "Doug;" Warner Bros.' animated "Batman" and "Superman;" animation aimed at older audiences with "The Simpsons" and "South Park;" and so much more. The the animation renaissance of the past dozen years or so has brought a new rebirth to the animation industry...and in fact, the definitive book on the new era of animation hasn't been written yet. But the cartoons of the Golden Age are widely available, and indeed, they are still broadcast on TV every day, more than fifty years after such great live-action contemporaries as Bogart, Cagney, and so many others have passed into the archives of movie history. Maltin's book is an exceptional, delightful look into an innocent era of animation that has finally taken its rightful place in film history.
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