Is The Animator’s Survival Kit Still Relevant in 2025?

Richard Williams’ Animator's Survival Kit was first published over 20 years ago, before today’s digital workflows, AI-assisted tools, and real-time rendering.  

And yet, it remains one of the most essential resources for anyone learning animation. Why? Because the fundamental principles of animation don’t change. Great animation is still all about timing, spacing - and giving a memorable performance. 

The Five Best Books To Learn Animation

The Animator's Survival Kit

What are the key books that animation students  should buy to learn the craft of animation?

Books may be a bit old school these days, but a good book is still a great place to start learning about and exploring the world of character animation.

The best books will teach you, immerse you - and inspire you to do your very best work. So, what are the top five books?

Books: The Animator's Survival Kit

Our MA in Animation, run in partnership with with Buckinghamshire New University, starts on 30 September, so now is the time to get ready.

We recommend one key textbook - all our students should get a copy of  The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams.

The ASK was first published in 2002 as a book, and a few years later was released as a DVD set, and later as an iPad app.

Ross Anderson Pulls a Rabbit out of a Hat

Canadian author and animation historian Ross Anderson is putting the finishing touches on his forthcoming book - Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat - The Story Behind the Making of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. 

Ross's book aims to be the definitive story of the ground-breaking film which I, along with with many others, was lucky enough to have worked on back in the late 1980s.

Almost everyone who worked on the film now knows Ross - his many recent visits to London included trips to the pubs where we used to drink after hours, and Ross interviewed many, many people who worked on the film to tell the story as accurately as possible.

Animal Locomotion for Animators

Animal Locomotion for Animators is a free eBook by paleontologist and animal locomotion expert Stuart Sumida, which you can download from his website here.

The book is an excellent resource on animal locomotion, and very useful right now for our students - who are currently tackling animal and creature locomotion.

Stuart Sumida is a paleontologist who also works in showbiz; he has acted as advisor to countless Hollywood films including Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron, where he gave extensive talks to the animators (including me) on horse locomotion. To find the free download, follow this link. And to read more about Stuart Sumida's work, see this blog post.

http://www.stuartsumida.com/ANIMATION/LocomotionImages.pdf

Animation Insider's eBook - Free from Squeeze

Animation Insider's Ebook - free from Squeeze!

Get your free copy of the Animation Insider's eBook, downloadable from Squeeze animation studio in Quebec.

This free digital download describes the workflow of talented animators such as Mike Nguyen, Victor Navone and Jason Ryan.

It 's a remarkable insight into how experienced animators approach a shot, and very useful for students looking to develop their own animation workflow.

Andreas Deja on Disney's Nine Old Men

Check out this wonderful podcast from The Bancroft Bros (Tom and Tony) with legendary Disney animator Andreas Deja (Gaston, Hercules, Scar) on his new book about Disney's Nine Old Men.

But who were the Nine Old Men? And why should we still care? The answer is, these were the animators who created, developed and nurtured the original Disney style.

It's not an exaggeration to say that they created the medium of animation and made it what it is today.  

Animation Reading List for Our November 2nd Class!

What books do we recommend that animators read before starting our winter class on Monday 2 November?

Books may be a bit old school these days, but a good book is still a great place to start learning about and exploring the world of character animation.

We're also very selective; we won't make you buy a ton of books you won't have time to open, let alone read.  So, what is on our animation reading list?

Book Recommendation - Animated Performance by Nancy Beiman

Animated Performance by Nancy Beiman is just published in its second edition. This is an excellent book from a master animator, one who now teaches at Sheridan College, often regarded as one of the top places in the world to study animation.

Nancy was a supervising animator at DreamWorks and she really knows her stuff. And, as a full-time professor, she knows how to communicate her knowledge.

Any serious animator should have this book on their shelf.

You can buy it here.

Book Recommendation - Animation Methods by David Rodriguez

Animation Methods by David Rodriguez is a very, very good book on learning animation in Maya.  It's a book that focuses primarily on 3D Character Animation, a step-by-step guide for learning Maya, and the Maya animation tools. It also has useful sections on how to get into the industry, how to make a great demo reel, and how to get a job in animation. We think this is a very useful companion book to the course at Animation Apprentice.

It is also an unusual book in that it makes extensive use of QR codes - meaning you can use your smartphone to scan the codes and then view a 3D animated clip of the lesson. So, not only can you read the lesson, but you can also see and understand it through a video demonstration. 

Getty Makes Art Books Available for Free Download

Getty has created a new online virtual library, offering over 250 art books, now available for free download.  Don't forget that animators are artists; a good understanding of the visual arts and art history helps to give depth and context to your work. Here at Animation Apprentice we encourage all our students to take advantage of the growing quantity of free content available online for student use.

The Illusion of Life - The Original Animation Bible

The original animation bible

The Illusion of Life was first published in the 1970s. It caused a sensation among animators, because it represented for the first time in print the accumulated wisdom of the Disney studio - set out in detail for anyone who cared to learn. The 1970s were a lean time for animation; Walt Disney was dead and the revival that would come with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and The Little Mermaid (and, later, with 3D animation) was still far in the future.

Getting Ready for Our January Class - How To Get Started

Winter Draws On. Photo: Wikipedia

What kind of preparation should students do before starting with us at Animation Apprentice on 5 January 2015?  Needless to say, we don't want to spoil your holidays, and it's always good to have a proper break, but it's worth casting half an eye forward to the New Year and thinking about some of the things you might do to get ready for our new course. Below is a brief checklist of stuff to get you started. It's not comprehensive, and you don't have to do all of it, but tick off a few of the things on this list and you will be a making a great start on your animation career.

Animator's Survival Kit for the iPad

The Animator's Survival Kit

As every student of animation knows, the best book for learning animation is The Animator's Survival Kit. For over a decade it has been the industry standard textbook. The only problem with the book is you can't see the animation - which is where the iPad version comes in. It's like having both the DVD series and the book rolled into one, because it doesn't just tell you how to do stuff - it shows you how to do it as well.

The Other Book Every Animator Should Own

The original animation bible

The Illusion of Life was first published in the 1970s. It caused a sensation among animators, because it represented for the first time in print the accumulated wisdom of the Disney studio - set out in detail for anyone who cared to learn. The 1970s were a lean time for animation; Walt Disney was dead and the revival that would come with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and The Little Mermaid was still far in the future.

Book Interview - The Noble Approach - Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design

The Noble Approach - Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design

One of the best books on animation design in recent years is by animation designer and director Tod Polson, who spent over a year researching and writing about the life and art of legendary designer Maurice Noble. Noble enjoyed had a 60 year career in the animation business and was responsible for the look of some of the most famous Looney Tunes shorts, including What's Opera Doc?, Duck Dodgers and the Road Runner series. We reprint this 2012 interview with Todd at our sister blog FLiP, in which he talked about the genesis of the project.

the book every animator should own

The one book every animator should own is The Animator's Suvival Kit. There has been nothing quite like it for our industry since Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnstone wrote  The Illusion of Life back in the 1970s - the first book which fully set out the secrets of Disney animation for anyone who took the trouble to read it properly.