I just finished Richard Williams's Animator's Survival Kit. It is great, and every animator should read it! There is no information about building or sculpting, just how-to style examples of animated sequences. If you want to check it out it should be with the the media books in the music section at Borders.
It inspired me to create my own cartoon. It took me 4 2-hour days to draw, even though I used Monkeyjam's layering. Then it took over 2 hours to scan the drawings! I am rather pleased with the result. Although it is more work, cartooning doesn't require sets or puppets that can limit your art. Plus, a "studio" is needed, just a clipboard and pencil. Read the book, and if you want to see how animation used to be done try some old-fashioned hand-drawn cartooning!
http://www.stopmotionmagic.com/videos/id_253/title_mark-twain-fathers-day/
Note: My dad is a Twain fanantic and "Punky" is my family nickname.
