REVIEW: Disney Book Shows “How to Draw Classic Characters”

Talk about a surprise: in the era of billion-dollar, computer animated feature films, DK Books has brought us a 144-page book featuring how to draw characters older than many grandparents these days.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% here for a book that shares how to sketch Peter Pan and  Pooh, but I’m just surprised that any publisher has such bravado. Basically, take the feature films from Walt Disney’s lifetime (plus slight exceptions like Robin Hood), and subtract the princesses, and you’ve got this delightful mix.

I’m cautious on how effective the steps will be. There’s only so much space within the volume for so many character designs, so I can appreciate the condensing of the process, but being largely wordless of the how tos, there would still be a layer of trial and error to figure out how everything works together.

I wish there were a few more sidenotes, in the spare space, explaining what to make sure you’re doing with some of the more complex shapes. I love the clean aesthetic of the books, but we’re not drawing Craig of the Creek here, these are some of the most sophisticated character designs, and I do wonder how easy it’ll be to pick them up.

I’m still enthusiastic about this release, aimed at ages 7 to 11, but it’s by no means a magic means to an end.

It’s available both in paperback and as an e-book.

A copy of this book was borrow from the Brampton Library for review. Title image retrieved from Amazon.