Toy Story: The Art and Making of the Animated Film [Hardcover]

John Lasseter (Author), Steve Daly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 1995

Charts the development and production of the Disney animated motion picture, to be released during the holiday season, showing the art, layout, and mechanical aspects of the first completely computer-animated film, starring Tom Hanks. Movie tie-in. 40,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Daly, an animation writer for Entertainment Weekly, and Lasseter, the director of Toy Story, have written a richly illustrated review of the technology, creativity, and artistry that went into this first-ever completely computer generated movie. A must-have book for any animation buff or multimedia developer.

From Booklist

The newest book tie-in to an animated Disney film comes so precipitately that Disney must be betting that people will read the feel-good story of how the first totally computer-animated film was made before they see the feel-good buddy picture itself. As usual with Disney product, the pictures are lavish, the story upbeat, the presentation perky to a fault. Those who loved the inside poop about Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Pocahontas will love this book, too. It's just the thing to curl up with while watching behind-the-scenes videos on the Disney channel. Sure, it's informative about technical issues, casting, etc., but mostly it's another darn cute book about another darn cute film--just what Disneyphiles want. Mike Tribby

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Disney Editions; 1st edition (November 18, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786861800
• ISBN-13: 978-0786861804
• Product Dimensions: 14 x 11.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,768,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect Guide to How the Pro's Do It, December 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Toy Story: The Art and Making of the Animated Film (Hardcover)

After seeing the film, the book was a natural progression. As a teacher of computer animation, Toy Story has enabled my students and I to study a piece of work which has very few flaws, other than the one's talked about by the animators and directors themselves.

For a student of the art of animation, the book gives a superb insight into how an idea is developed from conception right through to production. Explanations are concise and clear and illustrations are comprehensive and in most cases beautiful.

If you are embarking on a career in computer animation, buy this book!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go behind the scenes and learn how they did it, September 4, 2009

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toy Story The Art and Making of the Animated Film (Hardcover)

Length:: 0:31 Mins

The first edition of this art book was published in 1995. After being out of print for more than a decade, Disney has finally decided to reprint it. I guess that's because of the Toy Story 3 which is coming out in 2010.

This book is only on the first Toy Story movie. To better relate to the book, it's recommended to watch the movie again since it was released so long ago.

The book measures about 18 inches diagonally, which is really big. On the hardcover is a hologram with the Toy Story gang in it. The message is clear -- Toy Story's the world's first 3D movie. The huge canvas is laid out with storyboards, character designs and movie renders display. It's inspiring to see how they turn concept art into reality.

Text is written by John Lasseter, the director, and Steve Daly. Their commentary bring us behind the scenes into the production for the world's first 3d animated movie. You'll read about storytelling, challenges on overcoming computer limitations, creating the characters and other interesting stuff. I'm pretty amazed that Toy Story was made from around 2000 models!

Profiles for individual characters are included, namely for Woody, Buzz, Andy and other toys. Detailed explanation are given character development but the focus of the book is really on the storytelling. It's about how the form follows the function. For example, you'll get to understand how Rex's small forearms created his "cream puff" character, why Woody is a soft puppet and Buzz the cool spaceman. You'll understand why characters behave the way they do, and the impression they are trying to create in the audience. In essence, you'll see how Pixar breath life into these otherwise inanimate objects.

There are plenty of interesting quotes from the staff in the empty pockets of the pages. They provide tremendous depth and insight to the film's production. The concept behind everything used in the movie are explained, from the dialogue, characters, design to music. It's like working beside the animators in the studio.

If there's a message the book wants to bring across, it can probably be summed up by this quote from Joe Ranft:

"If the story isn't there, all the breakthrough computer graphics in the world piled onto it won't matter. You'll have made a piece of passing fashion."

That is so true when you separate the CG movies that you enjoy from those that are just eye candy.

There's absolutely no different between this book and the 1st edition. So grab yours now before it goes out of print, again.

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

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT!, June 8, 2010

By 

J. Martinez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toy Story The Art and Making of the Animated Film (Hardcover)

I Loooooooooove this book! So many stunning pictures & info!

However, be warned, this book is HUGE. Not the size of your average book.