The Art of Kung Fu Panda (Hardcover)

~ Tracey Miller-Zarneke (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Insight Editions (May 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933784571
• ISBN-13: 978-1933784571
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 10.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #29,109 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #10 in	Books > Entertainment > Movies > Genre Films
  #13 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Design & Decorative Arts > Graphic Design > Animation
  #40 in	Books > Entertainment > Movies > Direction & Production

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shooting Darts of Awesome-ness and More, August 6, 2008

By	Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

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Length:: 0:41 Mins

This book shot darts of awesome-ness into my eyes! (Man, that was cheesy.)

It also screamed "character design" after you flip through the pages. Nicolas Marlet designed all these beautiful characters in the world of Kung Fu Panda. Pages after pages were devoted to character design.

Each major character had their own chapters and comes with an interesting background story, explaining how the characters came from research, went into concept, and then designed.

Every prop and design had a purpose and meant something relating to Chinese history. The artists understand body language very well, and they show it by posing the characters to reflect that knowledge.

Large frames were printed throughout the pages, depicting movie scenes. The level of detail was very high if you look at the drawings done on the set. Even the title typography of the book was designed to mimic Chinese words.

This book is worth getting even if you haven't watched Kung Fu Panda. It's inspiring for anyone who loves art, or work with art.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterful compendium of animation artists at the top of their game., June 4, 2008

By	Claire E. Hummel (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(I must admit, I cannot possibly imagine reviewing this book based on the peripheral merchandise it may or may not come with. An "Art Of" book should be for showcasing the art, and nothing more- however it goes about doing that, if it is successful, is trivial.)

Regardless of the final product that is the movie of "Kung Fu Panda", it cannot be denied that the concept and production art leading up to its inception is breathtakingly beautiful. Nicolas Marlet's hand is strongly felt throughout its pages, but rightfully so- his ability to distill an animal and character into so few fluid shapes and lines is rarely equalled in today's animation industry. Pages are filled with his seemingly effortless character and pose studies, all of which are, somewhat inevitably, stronger even than the final product we see on screen... But so it is with polished animation.

The environmental work and colour keys are, of course, equally strong- the book ranged from great to greater, and there is hardly a dull page within its covers... Definitely worth the price of purchase. Though I am hearing more and more good things about Kung Fu Panda as the days pass, it is the Art Of book, not the trailers or billboards or hype, which has convinced me to go see this film in theatres opening night, without a doubt.

-C

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, June 18, 2008

By	Adele Thomas (Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This is an amazing look at the development behind the film. I bought this book based on just some small screen captures and havent even seen the feature film. But you can tell that it has had so much put into the development by the many many pages of hand drawn and painted character designs, environments and colour scripts. These images have also been used to not only guide the final CGI animation, but the wonderful traditional animation at the start and end of the film...its wonderful to see this development in a Dreamworks film, compared to the not so great Shrek development. This is a must for anyone who loves art of animation books or just want to see what SHOULD be done for the development of any animation project.