Recommended books I got for Christmas!

Happy 2007!

I got lots of fun stuff for Christmas this year! My wife got me a black DS Lite, which I've been wanting all year! I haven't checked out the Nintendo Wi-Fi features yet, but it looks like a lotta fun! She included the game Brain Age with it, and let me tell you - it's actually FUN to stimulate your brain every day with little training exercises. Every couple of days it has you draw random objects as best as you can from memory, and then it will compare your drawings with actual 'clip-art' style drawings to see how well you did. It had me draw a paramecium today - I don't think I've drawn one of those since high school biology class!

I also got 3 of the 4 new Walt Disney Treasures DVDs - The Complete Pluto - Volume 2, More Silly Symphonies - Volume 2, and Your Host Walt Disney. Somebody convince me why I should get the Hardy Boys set, and maybe I'll get it! Haven't watched Pluto or Silly Symphonies yet, but I skimmed through the Walt DVD while I was at the in-laws in Ohio. It's pretty good, but between both discs in the set, the total content seems a bit meager. Although, it's awesome that Disc 1 includes the complete broadcast of Kodak Presents Disneyland '59, a parade held during the re-dedication of Disneyland.

Enough of the gloating. OK not quite, just a little more. I wanted to tell you about the new books I got for Christmas!

Gorillaz: Rise of The Ogre
By: Gorillaz/Browne/Hewlett
(2006)

This book kind of took me by surprise, in a great way. If you don't know, Gorillaz is a virtual cartoon band co-created by Damon Albarn (of the band Blur) and artist Jamie Hewlett. I've always admired Hewlett's work (his short comic for Pulp's 'Common People' is classic). And although I was a Blur FANATIC throughout my teens, I was never a huge Gorillaz fan. Until now. This book is amazing!! Not only is it chock-full of colorful cartoony illustration, but it's a rather detailed 'autobiography' with the band. It's got everything from the origins of each member, an in-depth chronology of everything Gorillaz, and lots of behind-the-scenes storyboards, screen shots, and drawings - all spanning this 300-page hardcover gem. Did I mention the colorful illustrations? Obviously a must-have for any Gorillaz fan, but I recommend this book to ANYONE who loves animation. Gorillaz surpass most animated entities, because A) as characters, they're designed and animated EXTREMELY well (as opposed to everything else being animated these days), and B) these four cartoon characters - Murdoc, 2D, Noodle, and Russel - are literally living, breathing beings. They're a successful band that coexists with our actual, tangible world - they record albums, make videos, go on tour. And to think they were all born on a piece of paper.

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination
By: Neal Gabler
(2006)

You may have read biographies on Walt Disney in the past. But believe me, this one is gets top honors in the cultural studies department! Daphne Durham of Amazon.com writes the following:

"Neal Gabler's meticulously researched biography, Walt Disney offers the full story (Gabler is the first writer to gain complete access to the Disney archives) of the American icon. Readers will discover the whole story, witnessing Disney's invention of a "synergistic empire that combined film, television, theme parks, music, book publishing, and merchandise." What fans don't know could fill a book (this book in fact)."

I'm only one chapter into this book, and already I can tell how insanely in-depth the rest of the chapters will be. The first chapter covered Walt's early childhood all the way up to his teens. Did you know that as a kid, he once scribbled drawings with tar on the side of his whitewashed farm home (outside of his beloved Marceline, MO), convinced that the tar would wash right off? It didn't. And his strict father Elias probably blew his top. But from what I've read so far, Walt was somebody with great talent and ambitions at a very young age, and it's interesting to see how his childhood experiences would shape his incredible future. You either love or hate the guy - but you can't deny what Walt Disney did for animation and modern entertainment as we know it. Are you a Disney expert? Pick this book up and I bet you'll learn something new too!

Playboy: 50 Years: The Cartoons
(2004)

No, I've never been a subscriber to Playboy. Yes, sex is a subject that I don't openly talk about, especially with strangers. That's set aside for me and my lovely wife! Besides, can't there be any decency left in the world? Everything is always about SEX, isn't it?!? Maybe it's because of my strong Christian upbringing, but you'll never see me posting my own renditions of cartoon genitals. Sorry. I hope my mom isn't reading this post either! Mom, this isn't pornography! It's just... hand-rendered nudity? That doesn't sound any better, does it?

In any case, this book is an amazing collection of various cartoons taken from Playboy's first fifty years. The first cartoon in the book is by one of Playboy's earliest cartoonists, Jack Cole (better known as the creator of Plastic Man). I was already aware of Cole's artistic abilities when it came to drawing buxom female figures (I bought this book several years back - get it for its ink washes alone!!), but this first cartoon, in color, shows a voluptuous starlet singing, "I ain't got no bod-eee..." Humor aside, this cartoon is a museum-worthy work of art. Cole was a master with the brush, and the colors are warm and lush, nearly kaleidoscopic, which help set the mood of a hazy night club behind a vibrant seductress. Again, I'm not familiar with Playboy's cartoon history, but I am aware of some of the cartoonists featured in this book, like Yeagle, Sokol, Didini, and Kiraz - each with their own distinct style. Every artist draws the nude body differently, in different mediums, and it's rather interesting to see how each artist varies from the next. I still think Jack Cole had the greatest talent out of any of the Playboy artists - that guy had UNBELIEVABLE expertise when he drew his women! It's such a shame he took his own life too soon.

This book is actually being sold at Barnes & Noble stores right now in the bargain section for under $13! So I advise you to get one ASAP. It's 365 pages of spectacular cartoons in spectacular color. And to be honest, I've been flipping through the book without even reading the captions below. I'll get around to reading them eventually, but the humor isn't why I got this book - it's the hours I could spend just examining the raw talent and mastery found on every page. The color theories and the human figures (even as cartoons) are plentiful enough to call this book a very useful reference manual.