Son of Faster Cheaper

A Sharp Look Inside the Animation Business

by Floyd Norman | Release Date: April 18, 2015 | Availability: Print, Kindle

The World's Most Dangerous Cartoonist

Disney Legend Floyd Norman got his start at the Disney studio in 1956, when Walt still walked the halls, coughing and cursing. He's been there, off and on, ever since, and this book contains over 100 of his sharp-edged (and sometimes smart-assed) cartoons about the animation business.

Floyd's cartoons focus on his years at Disney, both under Walt's aristocracy and Michael Eisner's dictatorship, as well as his work for Hanna-Barbera. No topic is off-limits, from the poor treatment of animators by money-hungry studio bosses and the dismal decisions that led to box-office flops, to mercilessly honest caricatures of Walt Disney, Michael Eisner, Hanna and Barbera, and other notables.

Among the topics skewered by Floyd's scathingly funny cartoons:

  • Walt Disney's iron rule over the studio, and his unfortunate encounter with an African missionary
  • The war zone known as the studio of "Taskmaster" William Hanna and "Hollywood" Joe Barbera
  • The radioactive arrival of Michael Eisner at Disney, his Walt envy, and his wealth obsession
  • Dozens of cartoons about animators at work, studio bosses with fangs out, and films never made (as well as film that never should have been made)

Why read about Disney and animation history when you can laugh yourself silly over it?

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Working for Walt

Chapter 2: The World of Bill and Joe

Chapter 3: The New Disney

Chapter 4: The Story Artist

Chapter 5: Animation Boom

Chapter 6: What I Really Want to Do, Is Direct

Chapter 7: To Insanity... and Beyond!

Some years ago, an animation studio in the Los Angeles area suffered a major fire. Investigators speculated arson might be involved. A police detective scoffed at this notion. “Nonsense! Who would burn down a cartoon studio?” “Apparently,” volunteered a disgruntled artist, “you’ve never worked in one.”

This publishing experiment began nearly ten years ago when my first book, Faster Cheaper, rolled off the press. It consisted of funny sketches ripped off the wall of my cubicle. There’s nothing profound here.

Just a bunch of gags about a crazy business.

Zany-Whacko Studios

Floyd Norman

Floyd Norman has worked in the animation business for over 50 years, so he knows where the “bodies are buried”. His career as a story development artist spans from The Jungle Book with Walt Disney, to Monsters, Inc. at Pixar Animation Studios.

Never far from the animation industry either as a critic or consultant, Floyd now lives with his wife, Adrienne, in Pasadena and his home town of Santa Barbara. Floyd has five children and nine grandchildren.

So, you see, he didn’t spend all his time drawing.

A Chat with Floyd Norman

Coming soon...

Floyd started at the Disney studio in 1956 and had a full decade to get to know Walt's personality and pet peeves. For example:

Continued in "Son of Faster Cheaper"!

Nothing escapes the pencil of the world's most dangerous cartoonist:

Continued in "Son of Faster Cheaper"!

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