Historic book series on Disney Animation comes to a close

A multi-volume history of Disney Animation comes to a close on August 4, with the release of Didier Ghez’s final volume on Disney’s new Golden Age.

Disney Animation has such a rich and storied history that we tend to take it for granted. It started back in the 1930s, and it’s still going strong today.

So where do you even begin trying to round up its influence and history? Enter Didier Ghez, a Disney researcher since the 1980s. He started his landmark series, They Drew as They Pleased, back in 2015, showcasing the hidden art of Disney’s Golden Age in the 1930s.

Four more volumes followed, covering the following decades. And now, the sixth and final volume will be released by Chronicle Books on August 4.

This final entry in the series focuses on the animations in the 1990s through the 2010s, covering all the movies Millennials grew up with, like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast — and even goes into newer animated classics like Tangled and Frozen. The studio went from hand-drawn to digital technology, and the creativity and influence followed suit.

Honestly, if you’ve never taken a look at this series, you are missing out. Not only does it go into details on the movies we know and love, but there are anecdotes and stories to go along with the history. Not to mention the sheer amount of unpublished artwork included in the volumes is impressive on its own. The art even goes into details on projects that never actually saw the light of day.

Ghez has insight and drawings/sketches from concept artists like Gustaf Tenggren, Sylvia Holland, and Mel Shaw. The thoroughness of these volumes is almost overwhelming. Seeing early character designs of icons like Pocahontas and early concept artwork for Frozen will make you stop and think about the creative design process behind these films.

For this final volume, the foreward is by Burny Mattinson, who started at The Walt Disney Studios in 1953. He’s the longest-serving employee in Disney history — and one of the last remaining animators who worked with Walt himself.

If you need an insanely easy Christmas present for an animation fan this year, keep this in mind. Any Disney nerd in your life would absolutely salivate over a copy of this. The stories, the sketches, and the insight make it a perfect thoughtful gift for a family member or friend.

They Drew as They Pleased Volume 6: The Hidden Art of Disney’s New Golden Age releases through Chronicle Books on August 4. You can order a copy or check out any of the first five volumes on their website.