The Animators - Book Review
Tl:dr - On top of the characters being largely unlikable, the production timeline described for the characters’ animated film is so egregiously misinformed and offensive I found my willingness to suspend belief forfeit.
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This is a book about a couple of animators pouring their entire beings into their work and being recognized for it. Readers get long drawn-out narratives and meandering ups and downs (mostly downs) of their life together as business and creative partners. The story is told from the perspective of only one of the partners (Sharon).
There are a myriad of reasons I did not like this book both in terms of literary style (*purely a personal preference, the author should get credit for doing the do technically well) and characterization.
The characters are incredibly unlikable and irritating – toxic, immature, and impulsive with no measurable proclivity for considering “maybe I should try to be a better person.” They act and speak rashly, often betraying unbelievable selfishness and the psyche of an incredibly immature teenager. Which could be fine, if it weren’t for them being in their 30’s. I found myself constantly yelling “grow up please!”
In addition, the sheer amount, and lack of self-control, concerning substance abuse, hurtful statements, and destructive behaviors – all attributed (understandably) to their difficult upbringings becomes increasingly grating when they seem to forgo responsibility for their actions in lieu of blaming their circumstances.
All of that aside, let’s get to the real reason (and only important reason) I did not like this book.
The book is called The Animators. You would expect a book called The Animators to have some semblance of a realistic production timeline for a full-length animated film. This book does not do this.
This story expects you to believe that a two woman team (and only two) work tirelessly to bring a full 70-75 minute feature film to life in less than two years. The details are thus:
The project is traditionally animated (the first half accomplished completely by traditional means with onionsskins etc)
Only two people are working on it (maybe there was a little bit of help from an eager fan of their work, but nothing realistically substantial)
All this work was accomplished with one of the individuals regularly sleep-deprived, mal-nourished, and a little coked up
(this is the real doozy) The other half of this two woman team (that wasn’t coked up) was actively recovering from a stroke in which she temporarily lost, and had to relearn, how to speak, read, walk, and draw.
The moment my suspension of belief completely gave way however, was when the characters were in Louisville, Kentucky. During this time they essentially start the serious work on their project. After the three month mark they are showing off their first full 20 minutes of their film. We are to assume that this 20 minutes is fully animated, composited, and overlaid with sound. Not just an animatic.
I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E.
20 seconds could probably be achieved in two to three months by an animator of their supposed caliber. Never 20 minutes under traditional methods with only two people. (Did I mention one of them was still recovering from a stroke?) And then the story goes on to confirm that the movie was a full 70-75 minutes long and that the characters finished, published, and were on tour for it in less than 2 years after its inception.
A project of the described magnitude, under the conditions assumed, would take a minimum of 5-7 years, unless the animation was just really scratchy, choppy, and unrefined (which again, was implied to not be.)
This gross misrepresentation of the amount of time traditional animation actually takes is to the narrative’s detriment: completely ripping the reader out of any sort of believable reality (at least, if the reader has any personal experience with the medium).
To be dramatic, I would even say it’s downright offensive.
I’m mostly writing this review because I haven’t seen any other review yet actually call out this aspect of the book. (I searched for one).
That’s all folks. Have a nice night. Read it if you want.
