The superbly reproduced plates are also a mouth watering sampling of great story art. While there are more than a few features without representation, such as �Great Mouse Detective�, �Emperor�s New Groove� and �A Goofy Movie�, and some big holes in the representative art for others, such as a mere two pages given to �Pinocchio�, this is a likely a combination of two problems facing the editors � first, a lack of material in the ARL, and second, the never-ending flood of extant material from which to select. The ARL is the sole source for this and future volumes, and while we can�t expect to see it all, to quote Spencer Tracy, �what�s there is cherse!�

 
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For understanding why, how and what it is that makes a storyboard truly good, no better examples are offered than the art of Bill Peet. Peet�s boards for Dumbo, and in particular his clear, sweet, comical reveal of those massive ears, are a master class in and of themselves. In a single panel, letting go of a trunk extending violent sneeze that lifts him off the ground, the artist practically dictates the 48 frames of animation it will take to bring this to life. You can read Bill Peet�s boards from fifty paces, and never once do they loose their appeal or their deceptively simple charm. How could you want to make anything other than this come to life on screen? He�s amply represented here with boards from �Song of the South�, �Susie, the Little Blue Coupe� , �Peter Pan� and �101 Dalmatians�.

There are some outstanding works by unidentified artists, such as the talent responsible for the �Three Orphan Kittens� storyboards, who has a special place in animation heaven, that�s for sure. As does the unidentified comic brain behind the boards from �Pluto�s Blue Note�, who discovered a gag that would be just as fresh when a mischievous space alien acted it out over fifty years later!

Joe Rinaldi�s facile framing of Lady�s encounter with Si and Am, and the boards of her panicked response to Aunt Sarah�s muzzle, are such a treat to see in large, perfectly reproduced plates like these that it makes one wish the entire film could be released on leica reels. Absolutely delightful!

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Among the stand out examples of �animation as art�, there are Ferdinand Horvath�s classically styled renderings for �Ferdinand the Bull� that show how an illustrator of Horvath�s level can make the facile transition from storybook illustration to camera framing without losing the best of both worlds.

Glen Keane�s mastery of charcoal and soft lead, as well as his powerful sense of drama, is shown off to great effect in both his breakout Grizzly Bear sequence of �The Fox and the Hound� and his under-appreciated sequences with Marahute and Cody in �The Rescuers Down Under.� Seeing these boards is like being given a chance to thrill at these sequences as if seeing them for the very first time.