My favorite books for understanding the history of animation

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a freelance writer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, specializing in media history and speculative fiction. I have been enchanted by animation since childhood and followed many series avidly through adulthood. My viewing inspired my MA thesis on the history of animation, out of which grew two books on the history and theory of animation on television, America 'Toons In: A History of Television Animation (available from McFarland and Co.) and The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows (available from Rowman and Littlefield). Hopefully, others will follow.


I wrote...

The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows

By David Perlmutter,

Book cover of The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows

What is my book about?

This comprehensive guide to animation produced for television provides an overview of dozens of programs spanning decades, easily traceable in an encyclopedia format. The author explains the evolution and contents of each program so that its role in the ongoing history is clear, and provides a comprehensive historical overview at the outset.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons

David Perlmutter Why did I love this book?

This is the book- the one that helped me to understand why animation is and always will be important.

Maltin is thorough and impartial, explaining the strengths and weaknesses of classic animated films with clarity and skill. He has been the standard I have always sought to emulate in my own animation writing.

By Leonard Maltin,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Of Mice and Magic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Film historian Leonard Maltin recreates a whole era of Hollywood cartoons, from Betty Boop to Spielberg's "An American Tail". It also brings the reader up to date on the modern work of Walt Disney and the Warner Bros studio, plus new developments in animation. The book includes a filmography of cartoons and sources for video rental.


Book cover of Creating Animated Cartoons with Character: A Guide to Developing and Producing Your Own Series for TV, the Web, and Short Film

David Perlmutter Why did I love this book?

Murray, the creator of the wonderful shows Rocko's Modern Life and Camp Laslo, details in full the story of his own career in animation while at the same time exploring the mechanics of producing animation for television.

He includes interviews with his colleagues and contemporaries in the field which are revelatory about how many great programs of the 1990s and 2000s were produced, and fills a major research gap in the process.

By Joe Murray,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Creating Animated Cartoons with Character as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to creating characters and the world they live in and what it takes to get ideas on the screen. The tone is approachable and encouraging, from an Emmy Award-winning artist. It features behind-the-scenes and in-progress storyboards, photos and art from several popular animated series, such as "Rocko's Modern Life" and "Spongebob Squarepants". This book targets the scores of aspiring cartoon animators who are seeking a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to creating characters and the world they live in. "Creating Animated Cartoons with Character" was born out of Emmy Award-winning illustrator and animator Joe Murray's experiences…


Book cover of My Life in 'Toons: From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century

David Perlmutter Why did I love this book?

The autobiography of the co-founder of the legendary Hanna-Barbera studio is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the history of animation in the 20th century.

Barbera, who was as gifted as a raconteur as he was an animator, writes without flinching about many aspects of his career, and the difficulties he and business partner William Hanna faced in building and sustaining their careers.

Not boring at all but highly entertaining.

By Joseph Barbera,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Life in 'Toons as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The author recounts his life and career, explains what inspired him to draw animated cartoons, and describes his long partnership with Bill Hanna


Book cover of Animation: A World History: Volume I: Foundations - The Golden Age

David Perlmutter Why did I love this book?

Bendazzi is one of the world's leading authorities on all aspects of animation.

This multi-volume set is his magnum opus, detailing the art of animation as it has evolved over the course of decades on multiple continents.

Thoroughly researched and documented, it is essential for any serious animation scholar's shelf.

By Giannalberto Bendazzi,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Animation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A continuation of 1994's groundbreaking Cartoons, Giannalberto Bendazzi's Animation: A World History is the largest, deepest, most comprehensive text of its kind, based on the idea that animation is an art form that deserves its own place in scholarship. Bendazzi delves beyond just Disney, offering readers glimpses into the animation of Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other often-neglected areas and introducing over fifty previously undiscovered artists. Full of first-hand, never before investigated, and elsewhere unavailable information, Animation: A World History encompasses the history of animation production on every continent over the span of three centuries.

Volume I traces the roots…


Book cover of The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel and a Talking Moose

David Perlmutter Why did I love this book?

A superbly written and researched history of the life and productions of the iconoclastic and highly influential American TV animation producer Jay Ward.

Best known as the creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Ward's ahead-of-his-time approach to satirical comedy would become a profound influence on multiple generations of animation and television fans.

Scott's book plays an important role in understanding how Ward's work came to be and why it continues to be a taproot text in animation history.

By Keith Scott,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Moose That Roared as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Rocky & Bullwinkle. Peabody and Sherman. Dudley Do-Right. George of the Jungle. Boris and Natasha. These cultural icons emerged fully-formed from the wittiest, most irreverent and shamelessly subversive cartoons ever, The Rocky and Bullwinkle show. The first cartoon to reach both kids and adults with its humour, the show has millions of diehard fans. For the first time, read the fascinating behind-the-scenes history of the show's creation, the fierce script battles fought with network censors, the impact of the show on 1960's culture, and the notorious episode when America's favourite moose convinced 20,000 children to rip the knobs off their…


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American Flygirl

By Susan Tate Ankeny,

Book cover of American Flygirl

Susan Tate Ankeny Author Of The Girl and the Bombardier: A True Story of Resistance and Rescue in Nazi-Occupied France

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Susan Tate Ankeny left a career in teaching to write the story of her father’s escape from Nazi-occupied France. In 2011, after being led on his path through France by the same Resistance fighters who guided him in 1944, she felt inspired to tell the story of these brave French patriots, especially the 17-year-old- girl who risked her own life to save her father’s. Susan is a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society, the Air Force Escape and Evasion Society, and the Association des Sauveteurs d’Aviateurs Alliés. 

Susan's book list on women during WW2

What is my book about?

The first and only full-length biography of Hazel Ying Lee, an unrecognized pioneer and unsung World War II hero who fought for a country that actively discriminated against her gender, race, and ambition.

This unique hidden figure defied countless stereotypes to become the first Asian American woman in United States history to earn a pilot's license, and the first female Asian American pilot to fly for the military.

Her achievements, passionate drive, and resistance in the face of oppression as a daughter of Chinese immigrants and a female aviator changed the course of history. Now the remarkable story of a fearless underdog finally surfaces to inspire anyone to reach toward the sky.

American Flygirl

By Susan Tate Ankeny,

What is this book about?

One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.

Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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