Book Review:

Textbooks aren’t supposed to have personality. They aren’t supposed to be casual or friendly, welcoming a reader to investigate an unfamiliar subject. Textbooks are supposed to be rigid and factual. The late Walt Stanchfield didn’t seem to adhere to the usual textbook rules, though. During his 60-year career in animation, Stanchfield developed a penchant for thinking — and drawing — outside the box.

While working for Disney in the 1970s and ’80s, he successfully established weekly drawing classes for young animators and other interested artists to learn from his experience. “Drawn to Life” is a two-volume collection of Stanchfield’s lecture notes and class handouts, edited by Academy Award-nominated producer Don Hahn (“Beauty and the Beast”). Instead of being stiff and intellectual, however, the notes offer a unique insight into a very challenging art form.

Hahn, who also worked on “The Lion King,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” compiled the work with Stanchfield’s outgoing personality in mind, and it comes across well in the reading.

Hahn even writes in his foreword to the books, “[Walt’s] conversational style is so completely accessible to the artist, it seemed wrong to formalize or edit his voice out of the material in any way.”

At times this lack of editing produces slow or repetitive chapters, or even passages that would only make sense if the reader was sitting in the class at the time, but for the most part the mix of typed handout, handwritten notes and sketched examples make the subject more accessible than it might be otherwise. While “Drawn to Life” is primarily geared toward those with a background in drawing or animation, that isn’t exclusively the case.

In his conversational way, Stanchfield touches upon many lessons that reach out into other aspects of life, often quoting Zen masters and self-help books. Not only that, but he also uses many examples from his own life and career to bring his lessons to life. “Drawn to Life” is an excellent series for young artists looking for new tips, longtime animators going back to basics or cartoon enthusiasts eager to learn about the process.

Stanchfield (1919-2000) began working in animation in 1937. Eventually he began working at Disney in the 1950s and was an integral part of its animation department for 40 years, influencing young talents like Brad Bird and John Lasseter.

Hahn is an Academy Award-nominated producer for “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Matchgirl.” He has also written three books on the art of animation, including 2008’s “The Alchemy of Animation.”

He is currently developing the stop-motion animated feature “Frankenweenie” with director Tim Burton, and directing and producing several documentary projects.

?BRIAN MCGACKIN attends USC’s graduate creative writing program, focusing on poetry and literary critical analysis, and has been reviewing fiction, nonfiction and graphic novels for several years.