CARTOONS: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation...

CARTOONS: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation by Giannalberto Bendazzi (Indiana University Press: $89.95 cloth, $39.95 paper; 514 pp.) Nothing is just for kids anymore, least of all much-loved animated cartoons. Though a chasm still exists between the richness of what animated artists turn out and the small size of the viewing audience for anything that lacks the Disney name, increasing numbers of books are trying to bridge it. This hefty tome, written by an Italian expert in the field, is certainly encyclopedic enough: It covers some 2,000 animators and 3,000 films from 70 countries, and comes complete with an ample full-color insert and a thick index. Best of all, though, are the author’s unexpectedly clever insights. He calls the work of cinema pioneer George Melies “an animated film without animation” and views the venerable Bugs Bunny as “perhaps the most accomplished animated version of . . . a schnorrer --the loner, characterized by facile speech, a mocking coldness and the irresistible ability to dazzle others with his shrewdness and chatter.” Just so.