Product Description

From Jeff Lenburg's obsessive fascination with the subject comes this ultimate guide to cartoons. More than 2,200 cartoon entries encompass all aspects of this twentieth-century cultural phenomenon: creators, directors, production studios, voice talent, episode titles, and dates of release. With a forward by June Foray (the voice behind Granny and Rocky the Squirrel), more than 150 illustrations, and a nutshell history of American animation, this home reference details every cartoon and every cartoon character ever created.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #733222 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Review

"What the book does really well is compile a great deal of information on an impressive number of subjects. . ." -- Animation Journal

"The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons is an important, benchmark publication for students, fans, and historians of cartoon animation." -- Wisconsin Bookwatch, May 2000

Customer Reviews

Amazing in its scope, but should have gone a bit farther.
I have been searching for this book since I was a child; I ran across an early version in a library about 15 years ago, and just this last week did I find this, most recent (2nd) edition, copyrighted 1999.

This book attempts to list and describe every animated theatrical short, theatrical feature, television special, and television series that has been shown in America. It does an amazing job- much more thorough than any other source I have seen. It contains listings of Japanese series not mentioned in "complete" anime guides; many of the listings are not acknowledged on IMDB. Hell, it lists Jot (the Dot), an animated religious show that only I seem to remember. It covers cable series, silent b/w shorts, everything... but it still doesn't go far enough.

On first perusal, I noted several missing features. For a book copyrighted 1999, there should have been mention of A Bug's Life or Antz. Even if the book were from 1997 (the information does not seem to go beyond this), where are the listings for Ghost in the Shell and Urotsukidoji (both of which had somewhat successful art-circuit theatrical runs)? Even odder, the book does not have a listing for Disney's WW2-era animated feature "Victory Through Air Power", but it's mentioned in the appendix covering Oscar nominations. It's missing Robotech the Movie (limited run), too...

Besides the missing entries, the one section the book desperately needs (in an update or companion book) is a listing to all of the straight-to-video animation that has been available over the years. There has been a deluge of anime, plus many American efforts (including many Bluth, Amblin, and Disney works), and many smaller unknown works that should be documented somewhere... (UAV's An Ant's Life: Bugs Bite, for example, an original 45 minute OAV marketed as an Antz/Bug's Life rip-off).

I have other complaints; slight inaccuracies in titles (It's Snoopy Come Home, not Snoopy Comes Home), a lack of information regarding home-video availability, and smaller/absent text pieces describing each work. Also nice would be opinion of some sort- on the quality of the animation, story, character design, etc. Some sort of non-objective review... after all, the author *is* well-versed in animation history, and his opinions would benefit those of us wanting to study animation seriously.

Despite my negative comments, though... this is an incredible book. It joins a lofty, small pantheon of indispensable pop-culture reference books; the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Guide, Total Television and the Prime Time TV Show guides, the various Videohound guides, and the various anime reference guides. My complaints are only due to the fact that such a great book needs to be polished to perfection.

Very disappointing compared to earlier editions
Since the earlier editions are out of print, I was overjoyed to hear that a new edition was coming out, only to discover that the new edition omits all the information on individual episodes that was the hallmark of the original edition in 1981. This new volume should have been renamed, cause it is no longer encyclopedic.

Buy the First Edition, if you can--lazy revision here
The first edition, which was based on an even early edition under a different title, was a monumental treasure trove of information, but it had its faults. It was riddled with errors, but this was excusable for all the wealth of research Lenburg provided.

The problem with the second edition is that it is not fully revised, despite the fact that it claims to be. Errors that could have easily been corrected in the first edition I would look up and find completely unchanged. The only difference between this and the first edition, aside from some introductory material, appears to be the deletion of episode titles in favor of the inclusion of new series, specials, and films. Essentially, it's an update, but not a revision in any way that I could see.

It appears Lenburg decided to rest on his laurels. Perhpas before he sets up a third edition he ought to set up a special e-mail address where people can send corrections for him to check up on. Some of the errors are proofreading errors that an editor without Lenburg's knowledge would not catch.

The first edition was wonderful, but since this edition carries all of its faults and omits much of the original's information, I can't possibly recommend this.