Our list of some of the best Animation books & series in recent years. Get inspired by one or more of the following books.
- The Animator’s Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators (2012)
- I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation (2019)
- Character Animation Crash Course!( DVD not included) (2008)
- Sketching for Animation: Developing Ideas, Characters and Layouts in Your Sketchbook (Required Reading Range) (2018)
- A New History of Animation (2016)
- Cartoon Animation (Collector’s Series) (1994)
- Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation (2008)
- Timing for Animation, Second Edition (2009)
- Animation 1: Learn to Animate Cartoons Step by Step (Cartooning, Book 1) (2003)
- Simplified Drawing for Planning Animation (2014)
- How to Write for Animation (2003)
The Animator’s Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators (2012)
The definitive book on animation, from the Academy Award-winning animator behind Who Framed Roger Rabbit?Animation is one of the hottest areas of filmmaking today–and the master animator who bridges the old generation and the new is Richard Williams.
I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation (2019)
The story of one woman’s quest to move to Los Angeles and got a job in animationand how you can too. When artist Tally Nourigat left her life in Portland to move to Los Angeles and pursue a job in animation, she realized that despite her research, nothing truly prepared her for the wild world that awaited in the studios of Southern California.
Character Animation Crash Course!( DVD not included) (2008)
Character Animation Crash Course! is a veritable Genie’s lamp stuffed with everything the aspiring animator could wish for! Renowned animator Eric Goldberg’s detailed text and drawings illuminate how to conceive characters "from the inside out" to create strong personalities. Classic animation techniques are analyzed and brought to life through this unique book that offers readers animated movie examples that show, in real time or frame-by-frame, the author’s principles at work.
Sketching for Animation: Developing Ideas, Characters and Layouts in Your Sketchbook (Required Reading Range) (2018)
Drawing and sketching are central to the art of animation and can be crucial tools in designing and developing original stories, characters and layouts.
A New History of Animation (2016)
A New History of Animation guides readers through the history animation from around the world.
Cartoon Animation (Collector’s Series) (1994)
is the process of drawing and photographing a character in successive positions to create lifelike movement. to their drawings, making the viewer believe that the drawings actually think and have feelings. Cartoon Animation was to help you learn how to animate. The pioneers of the art of animation learned many lessons, most through trial and error, and it is this body of knowledge that has established the This book will teach you these fundamentals.
Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation (2008)
Francis Glebas, a top Disney storyboard artist, teaches artists a structural approach to clearly and dramatically presenting visual stories. They will learn classic visual storytelling techniques such as conveying meaning with images and directing the viewer’s eye. Glebas also teaches how to spot potential problems before they cost time and money, and he offers creative solutions on how to solve them.
Timing for Animation, Second Edition (2009)
A classic of animation education since it first published in 1981. Copies of Timing for Animation have been sitting dog-eared and spine-split on desks and workstations around the world, wherever animation is produced for more than 25 years. All you need to breathe life into your animation is at your fingertips. All the vital techniques employed by animators worldwide are explained using dozens of clear illustrations and simple, straightforward directions.
Animation 1: Learn to Animate Cartoons Step by Step (Cartooning, Book 1) (2003)
“Let world-renowned animator Preston Blair introduce you to the magical world of cartooning and animation! Whether youÆre creating traditional or computer art, you’ll find valuable information in this book, which covers the most important aspects of cartooning, such as working out layouts, planning scenes, and synchronizing mouth action.
Simplified Drawing for Planning Animation (2014)
Simplified Drawing for Planning Animation is packed with information about drawing the human form in a simplified way, for animators, illustrators, character designers and comic artists. It emphasizes simplified structure, balance and posing with sequential images. This book is used by animators at ILM, Walt Disney, Blue Sky, EA and many more. It has been required text at animation schools since 1999.
How to Write for Animation (2003)
In recent years, the world of animation has expanded far beyond the Saturday morning cartoons that generations of Americans grew up watching. Recent years have seen a boom in animation―hit prime-time television series, blockbuster cutting-edge digitally animated features, conventional animation.
Best Animation Books to Read
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some animation books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Composition for the 21st ½ century, Vol 1: Image-making for Animation
Author(s): Thomas Paul Thesen
ID: 3243670, Publisher: CRC Press, Year: 2025, Size: 142 Mb, Format: pdf
Machine Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Spiritual Freedom and the Re-animation of Matter
Author(s): Luke Lafitte
ID: 3205090, Publisher: Inner Traditions, Year: 2022, Size: 2 Mb, Format: epub
3D Mesh Processing and Character Animation: With Examples Using OpenGL, OpenMesh and Assimp
Author(s): Ramakrishnan Mukundan
ID: 3234445, Publisher: Springer, Year: 2022, Size: 8 Mb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are absolutely record-breakers according to The New York Times, others are composed by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.