The Art of Up (Pixar Animation) [Hardcover]

Tim Hauser (Author), Pete Docter (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Pixar Animation | Publication Date: May 27, 2009

After Toy Story, Ratatouille, WALLE, and other award-winning blockbusters, where else could Pixar Animation Studios go but UP? Their latest film is the heartwarming story of Carl Fredrickson (voiced by Ed Asner), a 78-year-old widower who feels that life has passed him byuntil a twist of fate takes him on a journey across the globe. UP is set to take off on May 29, 2009. The Art of UP contains more than 250 pieces of concept art developed for the feature, including storyboards, full-color pastels, digital and pencil sketches, character studies, color scripts, and more. Quotes from the director, artists, animators, and production team reveal the sky-high creativity that elevated this whimsical film to new heights.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tim Hauser has been a writer, creative executive, and producer in animation for over 20 years. He lives in Los Angeles.

Pete Docter is the director of UP and Monsters, Inc., and the co-writer of Toy Story and Toy Story 2.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811866025
• ISBN-13: 978-0811866026
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 11.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More for the Pixar fans, May 23, 2009

By 

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

This review is from: The Art of Up (Pixar Animation) (Hardcover)

Length:: 0:25 Mins

If you're still wondering about the real story of Pixar's Up, this book provides very good clues (or spoilers). I'll just say it's about Carl, the old man, going on a journey in search for meaning to his life. The directive from the top was to make Up "the studio's most emotive film to date".

Tim Hauser has provided a good writeup into design style and production process of the movie. There's talk on the story arc, themes, the characters and a bit on the artistic side of production, like visiting a jungle for the research. The Pixar story team provided lots of quotes giving great insight into the story process. On the technical side to animating, nothing much is mentioned.

The challenge for this movie is aimed at simplicity. The character designs are based on simple shapes like squares (Carl), ovals (Russell, balloons), bullets (dogs), etc. I've the impression there are less sets and characters compared to other Pixar movies. There seem to be only the city, the sky (flying objects) and the jungle (big). You can see the focus is going to be on the characters.

The art included are character designs, storyboards, color scripts and few environmental paintings. Descriptions for the illustrations come in the form of quotes. There are lots of character sketches for the main characters, Carl, Russell and the house. Readers looking for the plot will find that in Lou Romano's colour scripts. It seems that there's a new (to me) character designer, Daniel López Muñoz, doing plenty of character sketches.

What you're not going to see are film stills, background paintings and pastels. No idea why but the number of background paintings always pales in comparison to non-Pixar art books. And there's only one pastel painting from Dominque Louis. I miss the pastel paintings included in earlier movie art books.

This book is really more for Pixar fans.

PS.

"Hey this doesn't look like one of Pixar's better art book is it?", a colleague remarks to me. Another goes "Not the kind of style I like". Well, I guess it's not for everyone but here are the pictures you can see for yourself. =)

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

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great "art-of" book, June 9, 2009

By 

J. Bluhm "Artist in NYC" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of Up (Pixar Animation) (Hardcover)

Despite some critical reviews here (which I can understand their specific complaints, entirely), I find this book to be very gratifying. As an artist working in the field of illustration and animation (see my books, REJECTS, SKETCH INFECTUS - [...]), I find this book to be hitting the peak of "art-of animation" books. There is just enough to keep me interested and inspired, and if you've seen the film, it's a great supplement. Pixar keeps the art genuine and inspired, and this book shows exactly where their mindset is.

Bravo.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic and Different Book for a Fantastic and Different Movie!, June 10, 2009

By 

AlreadyDead "WWII Military Buff" (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Up (Pixar Animation) (Hardcover)

Up is a different sort of movie than is commonly made by anyone much less Pixar. The themes addressed in the film are gut wrenching as well as inspiring, and to really gain insight into the methods used to bring them to the screen required a different approach than the average "Art of" book.

Though I have been a fan of Pixar since they came on the scene, I have never been compelled to buy any of their previous "Art of" books. With Up, I was so profoundly moved by this masterwork of a film that I had to find out everything I could about the process of making it! This book does that and more. Filled with carefully chosen preproduction art that shows the evolution of all the major characters and settings, this work also presents the evolution of the perspectives of the creators as they changed throughout the process.

The layout of the book takes inspiration from a prominent volume in the film, with similar colors, a "paste up" style and a very nice emboss hidden under the dust jacket. The paper quality is superb, as is the binding. This is a book that is meant to be looked at often and for a long time.

Even though I would love to have seen ALL the art from Up included, I came away feeling very satisfied in that I had seen more than expected, and all of the "most important" pieces. If you are like me and simply had to have more of Up, this book satisfies that urge and more. For everyone else, The Art of Up is a loving look at the masters of storytelling at work!