I got this book a few months back when it came out and thought I would recommend it by posting a little about it. I have to say it is a great book for any animation/Disney/art fan. Out of the 224 pages in the book there is very little in terms of words. It is all photos of the art pertaining to the story dept. of Disney. The book starts from the early shorts up to around 2002.

I like how many of the photos shown are as the art was used during production. As opposed to cleaning them up by taking out hand written notes or hiding acme hole punches . A way to think of it is like a scrap book and the art is pasted on the page in the book. You can even see the slight imperfections on some of the older art. Masking tape, paper discoloring and weathered edges. This is not to say that the book is filled with bad images hard to see. All the art is scanned in and presented with the best possible quality.

Apparently John Lassetter was involved in digitizing all the art in the Disney archives (or morgue as it was called back in the day). As he was going through it he felt there was so much great art it would be a shame if only Disney artists were to view it. This is the first in a series.

Lassetter had mentioned in an interview that the seconds would be The Archive Series : Animations. This of course will be a collection or work pertaining to all things the art of Disney animation. I was very impressed with the Story edition and am eagerly looking forward to the next volume. I highly recommend this book to animators, artists, animation fans and collectors.