The illusion of life
by Frank Thomas Bullen, Ollie Johnston · first published 1995
92% recommend8% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Written by two veteran Disney animators, it explains core principles of character animation, such as timing, posing and appeal, with practical depth. Recommended to anyone serious about animation.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
'The Illusion of Life' is a book written by veteran Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. It's a detailed first-hand account recollecting the history of Disney animation, offering a unique insider perspective to one of the most creative and expansive times in animation's history. Also includes many photographs and illustrations.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2014–2018Timing for animation
Harold Whitaker, John Halas, Tom Sito
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2014–2018Elemental magic
Joseph Gilland
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2010–2025The animator's survival kit
Richard Williams
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 1611 recommend · 16 mention11 recommend · 1611 recommend
2018–2025Cartoon Animation
Preston Blair
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2014–2026Creativity, Inc.
Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace
Recommended by 83 · mentioned by 13083 recommend · 130 mention83 recommend · 13083 recommend
I did a whole post about how Google needs to head over to Pixar and borrow the seminal book "The Illusion of Life" by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas. Learn some animation (http://www.blackrimglasses.com/2009/11/29/the-illusion-of-sm...) Two years ago! You'd think they'd get animation, finger mapping, etc down by…
on “Google, Samsung unveil Ice Cream Sandwich-powered Galaxy Nexus” ↗It's a great and practical book, but I'd say it serves a different role than Illusion of Life. I take it from one of the other replies that it's fallen out of print :-(
on “The Illusion of Life: Disney's principles of animation” ↗One i'd recommend is The illusion of life - the history of animation in disney, it covers some of the business, the people and the techniques and of course the movies, and it's one of the most beautiful books I own. https://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Life-Disney-Animation/dp/078...
on “YC's Winter Reading List” ↗Disney’s animation book (The Illusion of Life) is very nice, but the best animation source I’ve seen anywhere is The Animator’s Survival Kit. Unfortunately the excellent videos that go with the book are pretty expensive for someone who is vaguely…
on “Creating Usability with Motion: The UX in Motion Manifesto” ↗Not exhaustive, or in any particular order: _Animator's Survival Kit_, by Richard Williams. _Illusion of Life_, by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. _Animation from Script to Screen_, by Shamus Culhane. _Natural Way to Draw_, by Kimon Nicolaïdes. _Creative Illustration_, by Andrew Loomis. _Timing for Animation_,…
on “Ask HN: What are the best textbooks in your field of expertise?” ↗Survival Kit is an advanced book that dives into the deep end, The Illusion Of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson [1] (two of the guys on a bunch of the early Disney features) and Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair [2] (countless MGM shorts) will give you a solid grounding in the…
on “Foundations of Animation” ↗…Star Wars?" So we just follow that pattern, I guess. Not that there weren't other patterns--the Disney animators independently arrived at their own storytelling rules, for example. Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life (by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston ) has a discussion of what they found worked for them and what didn't. It's worth comparing what they say there with the actual films and reflect on how the rules bore…
on “Our narrative prison” ↗…and it has not been a pleasant experience. Related there was a really good article back in the days of Smashing Magazine [1] that I read connecting web animation with the famous Disney animation book "Illusion of Life", but it's nice to have an article with actual interactive examples! https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/09/the-guide-to-css-an...
on “Squash and Stretch: CSS animation design technique” ↗The greatest takeaway here is that, by using live action as reference for both character posing and timing, you're able to shortcut visual appeal. Read The Illusion of Life, Animators Survival Kit and the Preston Blair book if you're serious about including animation in a project -- or befriend an animator. Animators don't let other animators rotoscope.
on “Rotoscoped Animation of Filmed Parkour” ↗…actually a result of everything that's happened since Walt's death in 66, especially the terrible reign of Michael Eisner from 84 to 05 which nearly killed Disney's animation. There's a book called "The Illusion of Life" that was written by Two of the "Nine Old Men" of animation who were with Walt from the early days. When you read some of the early chapters, Disney held a lot of the values that many Hackers hold including…
on “Be Relentlessly Resourceful” ↗I am definitely an early Disney film fan (from an animation perspective). Another book you might read is actually written by two of Disney's "Nine Old Men" called "The Illusion of Life" (Pixar actually did an homage to them in The Incredibles) and it talks about not only the specific techniques that they created, but also the attitude of the studio in the early days. It's actually…
on “Walt Disney - Hardware Hacker” ↗My favourite Disney book is "The Illusion of Life" which is written by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson, 2 of Disney's "nine old men" The first chapters deal with the creation of the Snow White film, and the startup culture within the Disney studios at…
on “The Cinematography of "The Incredibles"” ↗I'm not generally a big Disney person but the books on animation theory from them that I've bought are quite enjoyable. There is book that the linked-to animation is based on: The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by Frank Thomas Two other Disney animation resources that I've picked up over the years include: * The 2 volumes of Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes by Walt…
on “The Illusion of Life: Disney's principles of animation” ↗…Rabbit fame)wrote an excellent book about animation called "The Animator's Survival Kit". Upvoted. As an fan of animation this is indeed an excellent book. Another one I particularly enjoyed is "The Illusion of Life" - particularly the early chapters in which the authors describe describe Walt Disney Studios during their startup days. Fascinating stuff.
on “Ask HN: What do you listen to when you code?” ↗Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull - the history of Pixar The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation - a very beautiful book the history of Disney animation (pre computer though), discusses the foundations of animation used in software everywhere today.
on “Non technical books about programming/computer science” ↗