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Thanks to all these conversations that Tom had with animators who worked back in the 1920s, 1930s & 1940s, he now has this treasure trove of stories about what it was really like to work at Disney, Warners, Fleischers and UPA back in the day. Back when Walt wasn't the kindly old Uncle Walt that we saw on television. But -- rather -- a somewhat desperate producer who was just trying to keep his troops motivated so that they could then complete all of the pictures that Disney had in its production pipeline at that time.

It's this aspect of "Drawing the Line" that I particularly enjoyed. Sito doesn't tell these stories from the safety of sixty years later. But -- rather -- Tom tries to put you right there in the moment. To give you a real sense of what was really on the line when these artists went out on strike.

By the way, "Drawing the Line" isn't just a book about the Walt Disney Company. While there are many entertaining stories in here about the various colorful personalities that worked at that studio over the past 75 years, Sito's after bigger game. He's out to tell the story of the impact that unionization had on the entire animation industry in the United States. The battles that were won as well as the jobs that were lost.

Which sounds like it could be pretty dry stuff. But not the way that Tom Sito tells this story. "Drawing the Line" gets the balance just right. It mixes large chunks of well-researched animation history with big handfuls of amusing anecdotes.
-- Jim Hill


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