A must-have for all fans of classic Disney, published as a tie-in for Mickey’s 90th birthday. Learn how to draw some of your fave characters — Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald — with 128 pages of fascinating animation history, doable step-by-by-step projects, and fabulous collectible vintage artwork. 5 of 5 Stars

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine. #LearnToDrawMickeyMouseFriendsThroughTheDecades #NetGalley. Pub Date 18 Sep 2018.

Very interesting book. Great for the Disney lovers out there. It was full of useful information to put to good use

Far more than just the how-to-draw manual it may first appear, this retrospective of the world's most famous mouse and his friends covers how Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto evolved over the decades from simple line drawings to characters that remain fresh today. Not only are detailed step-by-step illustrations provided, so aspiring artists can learn the subtle differences of drawing each iconic character as he or she traveled from the 20's through WWII, the 60's and 70's to the new century, the book is also filled with entertaining, informative information about what was going on in those times to influence any changes made to each character, as well as vintage illustrations of comics, film posters and other character artwork of the period. Kids will enjoy being able to recreate their favorite Disney characters themselves, but it's the adults who will want to make this gem a permanent addition to their shelves as an anecdotal history of some of the world's most beloved animated characters, and how they came to grow with the times and remain fresh today. 5/5 stars

Personally, I find "how to draw" books a bit of a mixed bag. Too often, the focus is on presenting the subject in as few steps as possible. This can lead to a lot of frustration for a young artist as the change between the steps isn't always clear. That isn't the case here. Steps are fairly clear. More importantly, this is more than a simple how to. It's a short retrospective, an exploration of how characters change over time. We are shown how personality changes are reflected in drawing style and how changes in art styles can influence character. That makes this as much a coffee table book as a drawing book, so there's a little something for everyone.

Wonderful and amazing -- this book is everything you'd want in a book about learning to draw Mickey Mouse. You get the history and the steps. You really do learn and see how things evolved or changed through the decades for Micky Mouse and his Friends. I enjoyed it. It really was great to learn the history of the characters with details on how to draw them too. This is a classic book and learning all the vintage details is fantastic. I want to add it to my collection!

History combined with steps for drawing Mickey and his friends. First appearances of all characters are mentioned. Intermediate level of knowledge of drawing is needed for the illustrations.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC

Such a fun and interesting book! Disney fans of all ages will love this one. It’s a classic!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Loved this book as a great teaching aid to teach kids how to draw- I am leader in charge of a youth club and this has really been a great success in entertaining the kids in an educational way

This is a really nice book, but I think I liked the information and the overall layout of the book better than the drawing instructions. The instructions were perfectly fine, I just think I would have liked more picture examples of the different styles. Would absolutely recommend the book for people interested in Disney and drawing.

If you're a Disney fan, this is a super fun book. I really enjoyed learning to draw Mickey in all his variations and incarnations. Simple, easy to follow instructions.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a wonderful pictorial history of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse and friends. When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's Mickey Mouse was just the best and many things where spurn from this lovable drawn character - who in my generation can forget the Micky Mouse Club, Annette and her mousekoters where almost cult figures.
This is really a very interesting book from the early drawing to the character he later became, and the wonderful mystical "Fantasia" that Disney went on to produce.
If you are into comic art, graphic, want to know how to draw the characters or just want to read about Micky and how he began, this is a good book.

Thank you, NetGalley for the preview of this digital ARC.

Thanks to 'Learn to Draw Mickey Mouse & Friends Through the Decades', now I can try my hand at drawing some of the most famous Disney characters. Everything is thoroughly explained through step-by-step instructions.

This book celebrates Mickey’s 90th anniversary with a 128 page colorfully illustrated book of art and interesting facts. Learn how to recreate Disney characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Pete, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, Goofy, and many more through step by step drawings, which is great for us non-artists. Each section features vintages images and information on how the illustrations came about. The book shows different versions of the characters and how they have changed thru the decades that begin in the 1920s. If you are a Disney buff, you will also love the fun fact about how each character came about and changes along with the studio pictures. This will be a great gift for my niece who loves to draw.

This is a gorgeous tribute to Disney's history of animation of the Fab 5 (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto) plus Daisy from the 1920's through today. Each decade is featured, with a brief overview of the what was happening at the time, and what that meant for changes to our beloved characters. There are pictures of animations for the characters featured in the section from that decade, and usually a photograph or two of the animators.

Each section does include a one or two page "draw this character" segment with visual sketches that show you the basic outlines of how animators create the creators. They are numbered, so theoretically, you could sketch the items in step 1, add the items in step 2, add the items in step 3 and so on, and you MIGHT end up with something vaguely resembling the character at the end of step 6. There are no written step by step instructions, though, so I think unless you already have some basic understanding of animation drawing or some natural talent, I suspect most would find it pretty difficult to draw these characters with the visual steps provided alone. However, I really loved this book. I think it's beautiful--bright and colorful, and I love seeing the steps of how the animator puts the characters together. I have no natural drawing talent (a tough lesson I had to face after reading this book, haha), but honestly, I enjoyed trying to follow the steps in pursuit of my favorite characters.

I think this book is a must-have for Mickey and Minnie fans especially--it's really fun to see how they have evolved since the 1920's and to read about some of the reasons for the changes. If you're a Disney animation fan in general, you will probably enjoy the book, but if you love the Fab 5 (plus Daisy), you will definitely want to add this one to your collection.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I'm a huge Disney fan, so this book was right up my alley. I spent a couple hours with it before even attempting to draw, I really enjoyed the pictures and the background information for the various time periods. It was interesting to learn why the various changes were made to the characters. i think Donald has changed the most over the years.
As for the drawing, i myself need a LOT of practice. but i felt the steps were easy to follow. You have the fab five, and daisy and pete. The fab five have drawings in the various decades, as well as different poses and facial expressions. So there is a good number of items to draw. i think this would be a good book for those double digits and over.
thank you netgalley, disney, and quarto for this book

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this title. I loved Learning to Draw Mickey Mouse and Friends Through the Decades. Even for someone like me who is artistically challenged, it broke each drawing down into simple steps. My Mickey didn't look anything like the one in the book, but at least I can practice. I recommend this book for anyone in love with the Mouse.

Mickey Mouse made his cartoon debut in 1929 in ‘Plane Crazy’ with his girlfriend Minnie. Since then Walt’s creations have made their way into so many hearts around the world, including mine. Family members have long joked that they’re going to drop me off at Disney World; promising they’ll come visit me at my new home from time to time.

I have zero artistic ability but a Disney book was always going to pique my interest. I was expecting the step by step instructions to recreate Mickey, Minnie and the rest of the gang but I didn’t realise I’d also find such an interesting history lesson about the introduction and progression through the decades of my childhood friends.

I loved the animation timeline shown at the bottom of the information pages and I adored the layout of the entire book. You can really see the progression of Mickey and his pals throughout the years in the frames from classic cartoons. There are also tips on the illustration pages that will help bring out the characters’ expressions and personalities.

I didn’t think for a second that I’d have a chance at replicating any of the step by step masterpieces and chuckled to myself when I thought about the scary monstrosities I could come up with from trying to attempt just Step 1. However, when I looked at the illustrations objectively, I could see how they would help someone who can already draw turn their pencil strokes into something that would make Walt himself proud. I do think this would be too advanced for most kids though.

The projects begin with 1920’s Mickey and Minnie, along with Pete from ‘Steamboat Willie’ (who was actually first drawn as a bear three years before Mickey was born).

In the 1930’s audiences were introduced to Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, Daisy Duck and Mortimer Mouse. Goofy and Daisy originally had different names. The 1930’s projects teach you Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie, as well as 1930’s versions of Mickey and Minnie.

The 1940’s & Beyond section includes my favourite illustration; Mickey as ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’. There are also other more modern Mickey’s and Minnie’s to draw, as well as Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck.

Fun Fact: Did you know that 1943’s ‘Pluto and the Armadillo’ was the last time Mickey wore his iconic red shorts until 1995?

While this book will certainly appeal to artists, the additional information about Mickey and co. along with the promotional posters and photos of such Disney awesomeness like the desk where Mickey was drawn for 45 years elevates this book to Disneyana status. I loved it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Walter Foster for the opportunity to drool over this book.

Mickey Mouse's ears are one of the most recognizable drawings of all time. You do not have to be a collector to enjoy this how to. Mickey and friends have been drawn and changed for many years. Their current fans do not immediately recognize the Steamboat Willie Mickey. As a Disney fan and collector, the how to drawings have kept my grandchildren busy on many visits. They are becoming the next generation of Disney lovers. The book gives easy, practical advice on how to draw the Disney characters. If you have a budding artist in the family, this would make an excellent gift.

This book is part how to draw Mickey and part Mickey history. Even if you have seen all of the different styles, It’s still amazing to see some of how these characters have changed and how identifiable they were even with all of the changes. I think the one that surprised me the most was Donald Duck’s early appearance in the 30s vs his later 30s appearance. He definitely had one of the more obvious makeovers, especially for a one decade time frame.

As for the instructional aspect? That is the only thing that knocked one star from this book. It’s good. Depending on who the target audience is, it could probably be better. If you already draw some, you should be fine. If this is targeting younger audiences or newbie artists? I’d say they needed to break the steps down a little further. They seem to be 6 steps, but steps 5-6 are really the finished drawings uncolored and colored. So the drawing steps are generally really only 1-4. They use dark lines for the completed steps and blue for the current steps. An example of a step = Contemporary Donald Duck’s step four has his hat’s ribbon, a tuft of fur, his eyes and other face details, part of his bill, some shirt and tie details, and his tail. Not exactly step by step, but not uncommon. Just a lot of unrelated stuff in most steps and if you have problem with up close vision as I do, sorting all of the blue steps that are all over the drawing, can be a bit much.

That said, for such a small book, there’s a lot of projects. And it takes me back to the days when my grandparents introduced me to the Mickey comics.

The drawing projects:
1920s - Mickey Mouse - Get a Horse
1920s - Minnie Mouse - Plowboy / Get a Horse
1920s - Pete - Steamboat Willie
1930s - Mickey Mouse - Head Pose
1930s - Mickey Mouse - Body Pose / Puppy Love
1930s - Minnie Mouse - Head Pose
1930s - Minnie Mouse - Body Pose / Mickey’s Rival
1930s - Donald Duck - Early Appearance
1930s - Donald Duck - Later 1930s Appearance
1930s - Huey, Dewey, and Louie
1930s - Pluto - Early Appearance
1930s - Pluto - Later 1930s Appearance
1930s - Goofy - Early Appearance
1930s - Goofy - Later 1930s Appearance
1940s - Mickey Mouse - The Little Whirlwind
1940s - Mickey Mouse - Sorcerer’s Apprentice
1940s - Mickey Mouse - Mickey and the Beanstalk
Contemporary- Mickey Mouse - Head Pose
Contemporary - Mickey Mouse - Body Pose
1940s - Minnie Mouse - Mickey’s Birthday Party
Contemporary - Minnie Mouse - Head Pose
Contemporary - Minnie Mouse - Body Pose
Contemporary - Donald Duck
Contemporary - Pluto
Contemporary - Goofy
1940s - Daisy Duck - Early Appearance / Mr. Duck Steps Out
Contemporary - Daisy Duck

Walter Foster Publishing and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Learn to Draw Mickey Mouse & Friends Through the Decades: Celebrating Mickey Mouse's 90th Anniversary. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

This book starts out with a short biography of Walt Disney and quickly moves into the introduction of these iconic characters from their beginnings. From the 1920's, Mickey's black and white graphic look captivated audiences. The animated cartoons combined elements not yet seen together - music, humor, and a fast pace. The author shares with readers a timeline of Mickey's famous animated features, as well as showing the artwork of the time.

The life and times were reflected in both the artwork and the situations in which Mickey and his friend find themselves. This animation is a true representation of life, found in a more humorous way. I like how the author references the drawings of the particular animation, showing poses from the actual strips and drawings of peripheral characters such as Pete from Steamboat Willie. The author does a good job of explaining the changes and gives tidbits and anecdotes to make the book interesting. Learn to Draw Mickey & Friends Through the Decades is more than just an instructional guide. Those who are fans of Disney in general will appreciate this book and I recommend it for its information as well as the drawings.