...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

The Illusion of Life

101 statements
18 feature instances
3 referencing feature instances

The Illusion of Life	type	TVTItem
The Illusion of Life	label	The Illusion of Life
The Illusion of Life	page	TheIllusionOfLife
The Illusion of Life	comment	The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation note Originally titled "Disney Animation: The Illusion Of Life" prior to reprints is a Non-Fiction instructional/historical book that was commissioned by Walt Disney himself prior to his death to be written by Les Clark, who was with Disney all the way from Oswald the Lucky Rabbit up to Walt's death. However, Clark died in 1979 while doing preliminary research for the book. An attempt to complete the book was made in the 1980s in a large collaboration project with many surviving Golden Age and Dark Age Disney veterans, the project being spearheaded by two of Disney's Nine Old Men, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.The book was published in 1981, and has received universal acclaim and excellent sales, considered by many to be one of the best books on animation available. It has never been out of print since. There is also an abridged paperback "Popular Edition" of the book that removes around 200 pages of content and starts off right around the third chapter, with the section about the 12 Principles of Animation. It also received three companion books, also authored by Frank and Ollie; Too Funny For Words: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags, The Disney Villain and Bambi: The Story and the Film. A companion art book, Treasures of Disney Animation Art, was also published by John Canemaker (complete with identical cover art to The Illusion of Life, despite having completely different content), containing artwork that Frank and Ollie wanted to put into The Illusion of Life, but simply didn't have room for.Also the Trope Namer of The Twelve Principles of Animation, which are discussed in the third chapter of the book.Makes a great companion to The Animator's Survival Kit and Preston Blair Animation 1.Has nothing to do with existential crises, nihilism (the books idealistic philosophy, like virtually all Disney works, is just the opposite) or with Platonic Cave.
The Illusion of Life	fetched	2023-08-26T06:59:57Z
The Illusion of Life	parsed	2023-08-26T06:59:57Z
The Illusion of Life	processingComment	Dropped link to Bowdlerise: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Illusion of Life	processingComment	Dropped link to DoorStopper: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Illusion of Life	processingComment	Dropped link to HistoryOfAnimation: Not a Feature - IGNORE
The Illusion of Life	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Illusion of Life / int_1282bf4f	type	No Celebrities Were Harmed
The Illusion of Life / int_1282bf4f	comment	No Celebrities Were Harmed: The book highlights the Silly Symphonies short "Who Killed Cock Robin" for its caricature of iconic actress Mae West, which so effectively caricatured her beyond the level of a Shallow Parody, that Mae herself lauded it!
The Illusion of Life / int_1282bf4f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_1282bf4f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_1282bf4f
The Illusion of Life / int_1b74d23d	type	Milholland Relationship Moment
The Illusion of Life / int_1b74d23d	comment	Milholland Relationship Moment: On the section on exaggeration, animator Dave Hand recalls how he had to do a scene from 1931's Traffic Troubles six times with Walt telling him each time that it wasn't funny enough. Finally, Dave has enough and makes the action so exaggerated he was sure it would get him fired. He ran the scene for Walt, who then turns around and says, "There, Dave, that's just what I wanted." When Dave became a director, he would tell his animators to "make it so extreme that you make me mad".
The Illusion of Life / int_1b74d23d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_1b74d23d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_1b74d23d
The Illusion of Life / int_27a42ebc	type	Spiritual Successor
The Illusion of Life / int_27a42ebc	comment	Spiritual Successor: Frank and Ollie would author three companion books; Too Funny For Words: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags (which elaborates on the story and gag process at Disneys, as well as gag techniques), The Disney Villain, and Bambi: The Story and the Film. Treasures of Disney Animation Art counts as this too, since its loaded with artwork that Frank and Ollie didn't have room to put into The Illusion of Life and even reuses the cover art for Illusion of Life.
The Illusion of Life / int_27a42ebc	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_27a42ebc	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_27a42ebc
The Illusion of Life / int_4554eb51	type	The Twelve Principles of Animation
The Illusion of Life / int_4554eb51	comment	The Twelve Principles of Animation: Not only the Trope Namer, but also the most famous chapter of the entire book.
The Illusion of Life / int_4554eb51	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_4554eb51	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_4554eb51
The Illusion of Life / int_573f54d7	type	Disney School of Acting and Mime
The Illusion of Life / int_573f54d7	comment	Disney School of Acting and Mime: Discussed frequently throughout the book. Frank and Ollie make a point that the reason the Disney animators do this kind of acting is because it's simply impossible for animation to match the same level of subtle acting or screen precense as live action, even with tools that closely try to emulate it like rotoscoping, and that it's more sensible to exaggerate rather than directly copy real life.
The Illusion of Life / int_573f54d7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_573f54d7	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_573f54d7
The Illusion of Life / int_62f2a08	type	Unintentional Uncanny Valley
The Illusion of Life / int_62f2a08	comment	Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Discussed in chapter 13, which delves into the subject of applying live action reference to animation and gives suggestions on how to avoid falling into this.
The Illusion of Life / int_62f2a08	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_62f2a08	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_62f2a08
The Illusion of Life / int_65561b0e	type	Declarative Finger
The Illusion of Life / int_65561b0e	comment	Declarative Finger: Brought up in the book, as it was very commonly used by early animators who were still getting used to animating dialogue and thus having to time the accents of the characters actions to it. When the animators got better at finding ways to do this, the finger pointing was derided as cliche and faded out as a result.
The Illusion of Life / int_65561b0e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_65561b0e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_65561b0e
The Illusion of Life / int_a0fd6f80	type	Lazy Artist
The Illusion of Life / int_a0fd6f80	comment	Lazy Artist: Strongly discouraged in the Solid Drawing part of the "Principles of Animation" chapter, which stresses how much of a handicap it is to be an animator without proper drawing skills;
The Illusion of Life / int_a0fd6f80	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_a0fd6f80	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_a0fd6f80
The Illusion of Life / int_b02f21f	type	Digital Destruction
The Illusion of Life / int_b02f21f	comment	Digital Destruction: The original 1981 book was printed on high quality paper and the illustrations were more crisp looking. When the book was reprinted later in the 80's and 90's, Disney found out that the original photographic plates for the book were lost or destroyed, so they were forced to scan pages from the original book in high quality and use them as the source materials for the reprints so they wouldn't have to go to the painstaking effort of reconstructing the entire book from scratch. While the reprints aren't bad at all, a side-by-side comparison of the first edition and its reprints reveals a noticeable drop in printing quality.
The Illusion of Life / int_b02f21f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_b02f21f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_b02f21f
The Illusion of Life / int_bdc94cd9	type	Compressed Adaptation
The Illusion of Life / int_bdc94cd9	comment	Compressed Adaptation: The "Popular Edition" of the book axes out 200 pages of the book and starts off right at the chapter about the 12 Principles of Animation.
The Illusion of Life / int_bdc94cd9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_bdc94cd9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_bdc94cd9
The Illusion of Life / int_bfc2ec8a	type	That Makes Me Feel Angry
The Illusion of Life / int_bfc2ec8a	comment	That Makes Me Feel Angry: It is discussed in the book that anyone who merely states their feelings is not acting.
The Illusion of Life / int_bfc2ec8a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_bfc2ec8a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_bfc2ec8a
The Illusion of Life / int_d3354565	type	Medal of Dishonor
The Illusion of Life / int_d3354565	comment	Medal of Dishonor: One anecdote mentions that story meetings that weren't successful would have other storymen bestow the "Bomb of the Week" (or Big Bomb Award for Worst Sketch of the Week) award on the drawings. A "1st prize" likewise existed if the storyboard was approved.
The Illusion of Life / int_d3354565	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_d3354565	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_d3354565
The Illusion of Life / int_e43c66bd	type	Art Evolution
The Illusion of Life / int_e43c66bd	comment	Art Evolution: Given that it's a history book about Disney animation, it inevitably contrasts the older stick figure and rubber hose drawing styles with the more naturalistic drawing style Disney developed and refined from the mid 1930's and onward. In particular, it highlights Fred Moore's redesign of Mickey Mouse in "Pluto's Judgement Day" as a big step forward, by changing Mickey's design from a stiff dumbbell to a flexible, spongy pear shape.
The Illusion of Life / int_e43c66bd	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_e43c66bd	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_e43c66bd
The Illusion of Life / int_e4b82f6f	type	Fascinating Eyebrow
The Illusion of Life / int_e4b82f6f	comment	Fascinating Eyebrow: Walt Disney's thinking expression. Which coincidentally was pretty much his only expression during meetings.
The Illusion of Life / int_e4b82f6f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_e4b82f6f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_e4b82f6f
The Illusion of Life / int_e899b102	type	Sidekick
The Illusion of Life / int_e899b102	comment	Sidekick: One of the reasons why Disney films frequently featured sidekicks and animal companions is that Frank and Ollie believed "broad cartoon characters" would be able to carry the story more easily. Disney protagonists tended to be more grounded and did not have strong enough attitudes to carry the story alone.
The Illusion of Life / int_e899b102	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_e899b102	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_e899b102
The Illusion of Life / int_f46fb603	type	Pungeon Master
The Illusion of Life / int_f46fb603	comment	Pungeon Master: Ham Luske. The more unfunny was the pun, the more he laughed and the more annoyed were his coworkers...which made him laugh even harder.
The Illusion of Life / int_f46fb603	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_f46fb603	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_f46fb603
The Illusion of Life / int_ffad4e9f	type	Shown Their Work
The Illusion of Life / int_ffad4e9f	comment	Shown Their Work: There's a reason this book is considered one of the best books on animation available.
The Illusion of Life / int_ffad4e9f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_ffad4e9f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_ffad4e9f
The Illusion of Life / int_name	type	ItemName
The Illusion of Life / int_name	comment
The Illusion of Life / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
The Illusion of Life / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	The Illusion of Life / int_name
The Illusion of Life / int_name	itemName	The Illusion of Life

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	Digital Destruction / int_e8735bd8
The Illusion of Life	hasFeature	Disney School of Acting and Mime / int_e8735bd8
DisneysNineOldMen	seeAlso	The Illusion of Life

Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.