Customer Reviews

Toy Story: The Art and Making of the Animated Film

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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!

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.)

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

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

I was really excited to learn that this book was finally being re-released. I have just about all of the "Art of" books of Pixar's films, and I must say that this one is my favorite. What sets this one apart from the rest is how much more in depth the contributors go into the making and behind the scenes processes of Toy Story. I feel like some of the newer books are more focused on displaying the beautiful developmental artwork, but this one really dives into explaining the production process. I think this can be contributed to the fact that Toy Story was the breakthrough movie computer animation - there's no doubt that there would be a wealth of information to offer. The only minor downside to this book is the actual size; it doesn't fit standing up on my bookshelf. I wish it were the same dimensions as the other "Art of" books, but it's definitely not a big issue.

Everyone who likes the movie can find in this book additional information and pictures. Highly recommended!

By the way: the service of amazon is just excellent: safe order, shipping, refund. Thats why online shopping is fun...

The seller of the book was great in getting the book to us quickly. I was just disappointed because I did not realize it was a miniature book. Then I was unable to return it. It was suppose to be a gift. I've bought many of the other Pixar, art of... books. They were all cheaper and the big, full size version of them.

The latest version of Hyperion's popular book, "The Art of Animation," will soon be available in bookstores. Bob Thomas, the author who wrote the original "Art of Animation" back in 1958, has merged the existing versions of his book with previously unpublished interviews with Walt Disney and new material from Disney's upcoming "Hercules" to create a chronicle of Disney animation that is bigger and better than ever. <P> The new edition of Thomas's book is entitled "Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules." Whether or not you own an earlier version of the work, the Disney fan in you will find this new book interesting and worthwhile. <P> As in the past, "Art of Animation" is split into two parts. The first half is dubbed "History of a New Art," and its nine chapters recount the history of animation, particularly the pioneering work of Walt Disney and his studio. The second portion of the book is called "The Making of Hercules," a