Animator's Survival Kit in The Animation Library

Animator's Survival Kit in the Animation Library

We have recently added more copies of Animator's Survival Kit - our most popular book on animation - to the Animation & VFX Library on the 11th Floor at 6 Mitre Passage.

The Animator's Survival Kit is the standard textbook for animators and the most comprehensive book available for learning animation.  

We now have over a dozen copies of the Animator's Survival Kit (with more on the way) in the 11th Floor Animation & VFX Library at 6 Mitre Passage.  The ASK can also be bought as an eBook download for the iPad.  

Merry Christmas from Escape Studios

"God Bless Us Every One"

A Very Merry Christmas from all of us at Escape Studios - and God Bless Us Every One.  

Many years ago, aged three or four,  I was the voice of Tiny Tim in my father's 1971 animated version of A Christmas Carol, a TV Special produced by animation legend Chuck Jones, of Bugs Bunny and Road Runner fame.  

The Animator's Survival Kit - Still Relevant Today?

Richard Williams’ Animator's Survival Kit was first published over 20 years ago, before today’s digital workflows, AI-assisted tools, and real-time rendering.  

And yet, it remains one of the most essential resources for anyone learning animation. Why? Because the fundamental principles of animation don’t change. Great animation is still all about timing, spacing - and giving a memorable performance. 

Merry Christmas From Escape Studios

"God Bless Us Every One"

A Very Merry Christmas from all of us at Escape Studios - and God Bless Us Every One.  Many years ago, aged four,  I was the voice of Tiny Tim in my Dad's1972 animated version of A Christmas Carol, a TV Special produced by animation legend Chuck Jones. 

A Christmas Carol is just twenty minutes long - you can watch it in HD below.  The film was completed at Dad's London studio at 13 Soho Square - a Grade II* listed building which still stands today.  It's even painted the same dark green colour, and looks just the same as it always did - minus the letters "Richard Williams Animation" above the door.

A Moment in Time at the BFI Sun 22 Sept 2024

A Moment in Time at the BFI Sunday 22 September 2024

Richard Williams' unfinished masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler - A Moment in Time - will be screened at the BFI on Sunday 22 September 2024, with a Q&A with producer Imogen Sutton.

To buy tickets to see this rarely-screened (only the 3rd UK screening ever) unfinished film, follow the link to the BFI website here.

Merry Christmas from Escape Studios

If you've got a few minutes this Christmas Eve, why not watch Richard Williams' 1972 Oscar-winning version of The Christmas Carol.  It has all the atmosphere of 19th Century London and none of the sentimentality.  It's just twenty minutes long, and was completed at Williams' London studio at 13 Soho Square - a Grade II* listed building which still stands today (it's even painted the same colour).

Animator's Survival Kit "Minis" Launch 5 Aug

Animator's Survival Kit "Minis"

Here at Escape Studios we recommend one key textbook for learning animation - The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams.

It is a big book, heavy to carry around, and has now been published as a series of "mini" editions, breaking the book up into four sections, and available from August 5th. 

The ASK was first published in 2002 as a book, and a few years later was released as a DVD set, and later as an iPad app.

The Best Book to Learn Animation

The Animator's Survival Kit  is the core textbook we recommend to all our student animators at Escape Studios. The ASK is now the standard textbook for animators and easily the most comprehensive book available for learning animation.  We have two copies in the library at 190 High Holborn, and it can also be bought as an eBook download for the iPad. It's even better as an eBook since you can watch the videos as well, to illustrate the examples.  Watch the video above to find out why it's so useful.

Tribute to Richard Williams - Tomorrow

The Creative Talent Network (CTN) Expo in Burbank, Los Angeles, is hosting a tribute to my father, the animator Richard Williams tomorrow, Saturday November 23rd.

The tribute is titled "Life is on Ones", and the panel is being hosted by my old friend and colleague Tom Sito, who is an animator, director and professor - as well as the author of many books on animation. 

A Christmas Carol at BFI 9th December

A Christmas Carol, 1971

Richard Williams' animated Oscar-winning adaptation of the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol is to be screened at the BFI on Sunday 9th December at 3pm, along with two other British animated classics: Raymond Briggs' The Snow Man and Father Christmas.

The event is a great opportunity to see some beautiful home-grown animation, and after the screening there will be a Q&A with directors Dave Unwin and Richard Williams.

And, if you are lucky, you might even get a chance to have your copy of "The Animator's Survival Kit" signed by the author. 

ASIFA-Hollywood Helps Rescue Thief and The Cobbler Artwork

Some good news at last for Richard Williams' lost masterpiece - The Thief and The Cobbler.  LA animation chapter ASIFA-Hollywood has donated the not-insignificant sum of $20,000 to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to assist with the curation and documentation of a big chunk of the movie's original production artwork.

Thief and the Cobbler - A Moment in Time - in NYC

Richard Williams' unfinished masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler - A Moment in Time - is to be screened in NYC tonight and on saturday at MOMA - New York's temple of modern art.

The screening was featured in the New York Times - you can read about it here.

To buy tickets to see this rarely-screened film, follow the link to the Moma website here.

Anyone serious about studying animation should see Williams' film at least once. This event is a rare chance to catch a film made utterly without artistic compromise. And of course a chance to meet Williams' himself, who will appear in a Q&A after the film.

BFI To Host Special Screening of Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films on 5 Feb

The British Film Institute on London's South Bank is hosting a special screening of the animated short films which have been nominated for an Oscar this year.  

You can see the films on just one night: Friday 5 February 2016 at 7pm. 

The evening is a chance to see some of the best work in our industry, mostly by independent film-makers, and also to hear a Q&A with Richatd Williams, author of The Animator's Survival Kit, who is one of this year's nominees.

Richard Williams' "Prologue" Nominated for a BAFTA

A still image from Prologue

Animation guru Richard Williams (who directed The Thief and the Cobbler, and was animation director on Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), has had his six-minute animated short Prologue nominated for a BAFTA, in the category of Best Animated Short.

The two other films nominated are Edmond (by Nina Gantz and Emilie Jouffroy), and Manoman (by Simon Cartwright and Kamilla Kristiane Hodol)

The nominees for Best Animated Film are Shaun the Sheep, Minions, and Inside Out.

Merry Christmas From Escape Studios - and Tiny Tim!

Spot the Difference

Way back in 1971 I was the voice of Tiny Tim - age four years.

The reason I got the job was because my Dad's old animation studio in  Soho Square in London had taken on their first really big project - a TV adaptation of Charles Dickens'  A Christmas Carol, and they needed a little kid to do the voice-over.

By chance, I was just the right age.

Animation Legend Richard Williams Releases Trailer for "Prologue"

A still image from Prologue

Animation guru Richard Williams, who directed The Thief and the Cobbler, and was animation director on Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, has released a first look at his new six-minute animated short Prologue.  The short film was first screened at Annecy in June of this year, and will be playing soon in selected theatres in Los Angeles. Williams is the author of The Animator's Survival Kit, now the essential textbook for all aspiring animators, as useful for 3D artists as it is for 2D practitioners.