Book description
Some of the most beloved characters in film and television inhabit
two-dimensional worlds that spring from the fertile imaginations of
talented animators. The movements, characterizations, and settings in
the best animated films are as vivid as any live action film, and
sometimes seem more alive than life itself. In this case, Hollywood's
marketing slogans are fitting; animated stories are frequently magical,
leaving memories of happy endings in young and old alike. However, the
fantasy lands animators create bear little resemblance to the conditions
under which these artists work. Anonymous animators routinely toiled in
dark, cramped working environments for long hours and low pay,
especially at the emergence of the art form early in the twentieth
century. In Drawing the Line, veteran animator Tom Sito chronicles the
efforts of generations of working men and women artists who have
struggled to create a stable standard of living that is as secure as the
worlds their characters inhabit. The former president of America's
largest animation union, Sito offers a unique insider's account of
animators' struggles with legendary studio kingpins such as Jack Warner
and Walt Disney, and their more recent battles with Michael Eisner and
other Hollywood players. Based on numerous archival documents, personal
interviews, and his own experiences, Sito's history of animation unions
is both carefully analytical and deeply personal. Drawing the Line
stands as a vital corrective to this field of Hollywood history and is
an important look at the animation industry's past, present, and future.
Like most elements of the modern commercial media system, animation is
rapidly being changed by the forces of globalization and technological
innovation. Yet even as pixels replace pencils and bytes replace paints,
the working relationship between employer and employee essentially
remains the same. In Drawing the Line, Sito challenges the next wave of
animators to heed the lessons of their predecessors by organizing and
acting collectively to fight against the enormous pressures of the
marketplace for their class interests-and for the betterment of their
art form. Tom Sito is an animator, director, and adjunct professor in
the television and cinema departments at the University of Southern
California and at the University of California at Los Angeles. His
screen credits include Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, and The Lion King.
In 1998, Animation Magazine named him as one of the most important
people in animation.
