I was going to post about Collin Ord’s forthcoming book Magic Moving Images: Animated Optical Illusions, but he’s posted a (silent) video on YouTube that says it all:

It’s turning out to be quite a year for aficionados of 20th century illustration. First there’s the upcoming Charley Harper volume (I saw the book in person last week and it is more amazing than I could ever describe). Now, there’s word of a new book being released in the US this month focusing entirely on Mexican illustrator Miguel Covarrubias, who was an influence on Al Hirschfeld and countless other caricaturists. The book—Miguel Covarrubias: 4 Visions—is a 224-page hardcover with over 300 color and b&w illustrations. According to the publisher, it is a “treasure trove of illustrative material covering every aspect of his work, from New York and Harlem through Bali and the South Seas to pre-Hispanic and twentieth-century Mexico.” The book is a steal on Amazon for under $30. Get a taste of Covarrubias’s work here.

Development piece by John Hubley from UPA’s Rooty Toot (1952).
From the collection of Mike Glad.

The folks at Chronicle Books, publisher of the finest pop culture and design books, including books by both Brewmasters as well as all of the “art of” Pixar books, have launched a new blog. All the book editors are participating and they’re already posting some meaty entries. Alan Rapp, who edits art, photography and design books, and is the person who should be thanked for making Cartoon Modern a reality, has just posted his first entry. He’s chosen to write about one of my favorite topics: me. Ok, ok, actually the topic of the post is mostly about you: readers of Cartoon Brew and Cartoon Modern. Remember in December 2005 when we asked for your suggestions on the cover design of Cartoon Modern. Alan remembers that. He writes about the lingering lessons of that democratic experiment in book publishing:

The online buzz around the making of [Cartoon Modern] was unique in my experience, and attested to the convergence of the fusty old industry that is illustrated book publishing (read: slow) and the hypercatchy medium of blogs (fast). When Amid conducted an inclusive, non-binding poll of his readers to vote on the various jacket designs that had been proffered so far, the results were eye-opening.

What we had pragmatically hoped for—clear consensus—was not achieved. Instead, the big ideas behind the internet came to life: divergent, informed, impassioned opinions that represented the wide spectrum of the audience for this book. No cover direction was clearly favored, but the community around the book was invested in the process, pointing to potential new models of how we announce and make books.

So congratulations to Amid and the readers of Cartoon Modern and cartoonbrew. You all helped make this book a success and taught a small but significant to an “old media� company and editor.

Read his full post on the Chronicle blog.

A couple other quick notes about Chronicle which may be of interest:

* To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Chronicle will be giving one reader 40 free books every month this year. Enter the contest on this page.

* Hot news: Chronicle is turning one of my favorite blogs into a book. Get ready for Geoff Manaugh’s The BldgBlog Book. If you’re a fan of architecture, urban planning and futuristic landscapes, this promises to be an amazing book. The only downside: it won’t be out until 2009.

CONTEST OVER! I thought it was a fairly difficult question but obviously not for Brew readers. Before I could even get to my computer, over a dozen readers had responded correctly. The first two correct answers, and thus the winners, are Jennifer Klein and Joe Apel.

Of course, everybody can be a winner if they pick up a copy of The Ancient Book of Myth and War. Support some great artists and buy your copy today!

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We’ve got a good one today. We’re giving away TWO signed copies of the handsome new art book The Ancient Book of Myth and War created by four of Pixar’s most talented: Don Shank, Scott Morse, Lou Romano and Nate Wragg. All four artists will be signing each copy.

Winners will be the first two people to correctly post a response in the COMMENTS section to the following question:

Two of the book’s artists, Scott Morse and Lou Romano, have the distinction of receiving art training from which famous Warner Bros. layout artist/background designer, and what are the contemporary artists trained by this Golden Age legend collectively known as?

(Note: Folks who have already won something from Cartoon Brew in the past year or two are ineligible for this contest.)

When the CIA isn’t busy destabilizing other countries, they apparently like to help animation studios create cartoons. At least that’s the premise of an interesting new animation book I just found out about from FPS Magazine. The book, published by Pennsylvania State University Press, is Orwell Subverted: The CIA and the Filming of Animal Farm by Daniel J. Leab. It takes an in-depth look at the making of Halas & Batchelor’s Animal Farm, the first feature-length British animated film, and the CIA’s influence (and interference) during the production of that film. From the book’s description:

Recently, a number of works have been written–notably, those by Frances Stoner Saunders and Tony Shaw–that make reference to the underlying governmental control surrounding Animal Farm. Yet there is still much speculation and confusion as to the depth of the CIA’s interference. Leab continues where these authors left off, exploring the CIA’s dominant hand through extensive research and by giving fascinating details of the agency’s overt and subtle influences on the making of the film.

Leab’s thorough investigating makes use of sources that have been excluded in past accounts, such as CIA papers retrieved through the Freedom of Information Act and material from the Orwell Archive. He also incorporates the testimonials of animators John Halas and Joy Batchelor and, most significantly, the previously unexplored archive documents of Animal Farm producer Louis de Rochemont.

The book has a hefty $55 price tag, but FPS says that there’s a 20% discount if you call 1-800-326-9180 and mention the code OSRC. I should also point out that, though the topic sounds fascinating, it’s hard to recommend this title without having seen it. The author’s clumsy use of the word “filming” in the title immediately raises a question in my mind about how accurate his technical understanding of the animation process is. To be fair though, the book seems to focus more on the political intrigue surrounding the film’s development than the actual production process.

Toronto-area folks now have their own local alternative to Bud Plant and Stuart Ng’s. The Labyrinth is a brand new bookstore specializing in animation, illustration, artist sketchbooks, graphic novels and manga. The store, open seven days a week, is located at 386 Bloor Street West (2 blocks west of Spadina Subway station). The shop also has a small gallery space which owner Dan Merisanu tells me will be used for monthly artist shows starting in June. A website with basic details is over here and there’s also a blog which lists new books in stock.

This October, Chronicle Books will release To Infinity and Beyond: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios by Karen Paik and Leslie Iwerks. The hefty 320-page volume celebrates Pixar’s 20-plus year history from its early days under George Lucas to the recent merger with Disney. The book will include two 8-page gatefolds and over 400 color images. Cover price is $75. It’s a $51 pre-order at Amazon.

Also worth noting, the new Leslie Iwerks film documentary about the studio, The Pixar Story, will have a sneak preview at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival next month. The Annecy screening is on Friday, June 15.

Imagine if there was a New York Times Book Review that exclusively covered inspiring art and illustration books. Well, there is such a site and it’s called Book By Its Cover. The site has a broad focus, everything from children’s books to comics and hand-made books, and the selections are pure quality. There’s even a few animation books featured like The Art and Flair of Mary Blair and Cartoon Modern as well as books by animation artists like Seonna Hong. The blog is run by Julia Rothman, who is one of the principals in Also Design, the amazing design firm responsible for the redesign of Cartoon Brew.