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.

Disney has been my entire childhood, so when I saw that NetGalley had an e-ARC for Learn to Draw Mickey Mouse & Friends Through the Decades available for request on NetGalley, I jumped at the opportunity to request it and then when I found out I was approved I was so excited!

This book is full of easy to follow, step-by-step instructions, on how to draw Mickey Mouse and friends throughout the decades along with fun film facts and animation history, which is perfect for any Disney buff.

I just had to give it a go (see rough sketch below) and I can’t wait to learn the rest!

A massive thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster for letting me read and review this incredible book.

*e-ARC provided in exchange for an honest review

I love Disney, especially Mickey and Minnie Mouse, so this book is perfect for me. I loved the mix of how to draw characters and the history of the Disney family. The book shows you how to draw the main Disney characters, although I found some of the characters rather challenging (anything other than the faces really). I would highly recommend this book.

A drawing book and so much more! Learn to draw Mickey Mouse and his friends from the 1920s through the contemporary design. Each decade is paired with a brief history of Mickey and friends along with a timeline. The simple drawing instructions for Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and many more are easy to follow. Many of the drawings are also paired with classic poses and expressions to slightly alter the drawing. The classic poses are pulled from well known shorts and films. Great for those who love drawing, Mickey, and Disney.

I am not an artist in any way but I do love the mouse! This book has lots of fantastic history, beautiful photos, and is a collector's item for sure. If you are a Disney fan, this book is one you need to add to your collection- even if you're not an artist. You can tell a lot of effort went into compiling the information in this book as we journey through the decades with America's favorite mouse and friends. I was blown away by the attention to detail included. So why only 4 stars? The drawing instructions were not as thorough as I'd hoped for a beginner. I felt like a bit more detail could have been included and some additional drawing tips. From a Mickey fan, it's 5 stars for sure. As a drawing book, I have to give it 4.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ecopy of this book so I could share my honest opinions with you.

I have always loved Disney and especially Mickey Mouse. Art was one of my strong subjects growing up and to be able to draw Mickey and his friends is something I’ve always wanted to learn how to do. This is perfect for those who love to draw and would love to learn how to draw Mickey Mouse. I learned how to draw Stitch years ago when we went to Hollywood Studios in Florida but they have since taken the art academy out. No need to feel like we will never be able to learn to draw Disney characters again. This is perfect and my daughter loves the book as well! She’s excited to draw Goofy in her doodle pad before we head to Disney World this year. I highly recommend this book!

Liebevoll gestaltet mit vielen Fotos rund um den Meister, seine Werke und das Studio aus verschiedenen Zeiten. Hier gibt es Hintergrundinformationen zu den einzelnen Charakteren und deren Geschichte und Entwicklung mit Originalzeichnungen. Und obendrein Anleitungen zum Zeichnen der Figuren aus den einzelnen Dekaden.
Wunderschönes Kleinod und tolles Geschenk nicht nur für Fans.

I was absolutely delighted with this book. Not only does it give basic tutorials of many of the original classic characters of Disney, the most beloved and iconic being Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Daisy, but it is very fun and informative, giving a detailed but not overly in depth history of animation and the creation and evolution of the characters dating back to the 1920s. I loved various photos of young Walt Disney , his studio, and the insightful tidbits about how Mickey and his crew became household names worldwide. Excellent reading material for any Disney fan or aspiring artist.

Who doesn't love Disney? and Wishes do come true.........I requested this from Netgalley and my wish came true.
I downloaded this book and I was smiling like a Cheshire Cat.
Learn to Draw Mickey Mouse & Friends Through the Decades by Disney Storybook Artists is not just for a Disney fan but for anyone who would love to learn how to draw Disney Characters. This wonderful book has brilliant step-by-step guidelines how to draw Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Pluto, Daffy Duck, Huey Dewey and Louie etc. I love the way this book shows you how to draw these characters from 1920 to 1980 and how they have slightly change over the decades.
It is beautifully illustrated with comic strips of different decades and crammed with so much History about Disney throughout with wonderful history of Disney from 1920, when Mickey Mouse and some of his friends came to life.

This book is Just "Beautiful" in so many ways. Plus, a lovely little stocking filler for the Christmas Stocking.

Big Thank you to Netgalley, and especially to Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster for letting me read and review this wonderful book.

This is an illustrated history of Micky Mouse and friends. It was fascinating to see how the characters have evolved over time. I recently bought a mini cup, saucer and plate illustrated with Disney characters with the help of this book it have been able to date when it was made exactly by the way Micky and Pluto have been drawn. The diagrams make it easy to draw the characters yourself. I’ve had great fun doodling in meetings!
I think that this is an important aid to anyone studying creative arts with a view to illustration or animation. Personally I don’t like todays Manga style of animation. Many thanks to NetGalley and Disney Storybook Artists for this advanced publication copy.

The title is a lie! The Disney corporation would send you a cease & desist order before you got to the second step!

I must admit I'm a little bit disappointed with this book. Disney for me means great world of fairy tales, colour and happiness. This book is very simple in its design and worst of all the learn to draw tutorials don't seem to be to helpful. It''s definitely not a book for people who want to start their adventure with drawing because the level of exercises is rather intermediate and above.

Learn to Draw Mickey Mouse & Friends Through the Decades by Disney Storybook Artists is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. This book is remarkable not only for the step-by-step instructions but for the wonderful history in it. Since Mickey showed up in the 1920's, we have all grown up with him and the Disney characters in our life. It is interesting to hear a little about how it all got going and see bits of comic strips of different decades of the gang. In this book we are shown how to draw the gang in each decade they appear. In 1930, they change appearances so we get two versions, so we are taught both versions. So from 1920 to the present, we get lots of fun step-by step lessons on fun characters we all grew to love and interesting history to go along with it! Great and rewarding book!

A wonderful, nostalgic collection of how-to-draw the classic Disney characters: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Pete. For anyone curious about animation, or just Disney collectibles in general. Also a perfect tie-in title for the celebration of Mickey Mouse's 90th Birthday and the opening of the new next-gen attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios.