Customer Reviews

Walt Disney Animation Studios The Archive Series: Layout & Background

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The long awaited and fourth book in the Walt Disney Animation Studios Archive Series; "Layout and Background" is on the shelf and gives a nice broad retrospective of Background Art from the very first Disney films to present day. There's even backgrounds for Roger Rabbit among many others in here which Ive never seen in any other of my many books.

I do notice that a good portion of the reproductions are sadly, not that great- they're good, but Ive seen many of them in other books and there is a definite, noticeable difference in color and value. Also. While at the bookstore I inspected a few of the bindings and many of them were looking a little shaky.

It's too bad. I understand its a challenge to get the many pages to print well, it's a lot of art, but they dont have problems with their other art books- and a bindings glue already coming undone on such a brand new copy is one of the worst things to see. A personal pet peeve of mine. The copy I have seems to be ok and holding up, but watch out for those bindings- makes it tough to order from amazon or someone and just hope you get a good one. Cross your fingers.

With all that said- its still an amazing, fantastic, and easily accessible collection and I would buy it all over again at full price regardless of those two major disappointments.

I twitter about art of books every week for those who are interested, give me a follow or an RT @en_b !

First of all, if you don't already own the other three books so far in the Archive Series (Story, Animation, and Design), WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? This is by far the best art book series Disney has released yet, and it demonstrates a commitment to displaying the true (often unsung) artistry of the Disney animated films, without the excessive self-congratulatory commentary of many of the recent Pixar art books.

While the other books in the series have beautiful art as well, what makes Layout and Background a real gem is how much of the work collected here really is never-before-seen. If you own a few other Disney art books, odds are you've seen concepts from The Lion King, or animation drawings from Beauty and the Beast, but you've probably never seen background art from the Pluto short films. In fact, the layouts from the many short films (Mickey, Goofy, Silly Symphonies, the Disneyland TV show segments) are the big surprise of this book: the level of craftsmanship is shocking, easily just as impressive as in any of the feature films, and often spanning a greater range of styles.

The only small complaint I have about this book is that, compared to the 2D films, the editors really seem to have phoned it in on the background samples from the 3D films: instead of showing the layout art that went into creating the detailed 3D environments, they just show final renders, and not even the best ones, at that. There's a full-page image from Bolt that I almost wanted to rip out of the book (and I liked that movie!). So, note: if you're looking for background art from the 3D films, you're going to need to pick up the art book for each respective movie. Otherwise, this is a magnificent addition to any artist's collection, and a great coffee-table book for the everyday Disney fan!

This is the fourth release in the Archive Series (after Story, Animation and Design). I would be remiss if I didn't say that it was the most breathtaking one; it is. Layout and Background provides that rare and unimpeded glimpse at the artwork that supports Disney animation.

The concept behind the Archives Series started with the support of John Lasseter, who claims that his aspiration for the book was spending hours in the Animation Research Library gleaning from Disney's past animation's. He wanted to share this forgotten and sometimes never-before-seen art with the world. Although many famous artists have work featured, there are several pieces where the artist's name has been lost to time. This is a shame since the art is so beautiful.

As the title articulates so succinctly, this volume is all about the layouts and backgrounds that are featured in the production and final animation of Disney shorts and features. The backgrounds are the static images under the characters, props and special effects. They are often works of art, by themselves. Obviously, with animation, you want to redraw as little as possible. With the inventive use of celluloid, artists could create sensational images that could be photographed over and over. The layouts are the technical drawings that lead to the backgrounds and tell the filmmakers what is going to be happening during the animation process and on the screen.

Lacking the actual number, I would guess that the majority of pieces presented are finished backgrounds. Some times the layout piece stands alone and other times it is featured alongside the background. It is stunning to see how the step of adding color, texture and highlights make the difference in the finished background.

This is a fairly expensive book but don't let that scare you away from purchasing a copy. It is coffee table size and a majority of the images are presented using most of the geography of the page. When warranted, the image spreads across both pages or is presented on a fold-out. You might balk at the price, but once you see the clarity and precision of the images, you will understand that the price is a steal.

The coverage is fairly dense and offers art from a large number of shorts and animated features. The book is in chronological order and presents a short history of the Walt Disney Studios in imagery. Easily, there are less than 1000 words in this book. Beyond the introduction and the page about the Animation Research Library, the only words are the title for the final product and the year it was released. As can be expected, with artwork this sumptuous, there are no need for words.

My only issue with reading the book was that I wanted to queue up each short and film to watch it again. But is that such a bad thought?

If you are a fan of animation then this is a book that you have to own. I urge you to collect all of the books in the Archive Series, but this one stands out for so many reasons. After reading this title, I wish that Disney would sell high-quality reproductions of the artwork. The pieces featured in this volume are, simply put, stunning. I know that Disney animation as art has been done, but these are very specific pieces that can be contributed to artists and make fabulous hanging art.

ITEM WAS AS DESCRIBED...VERY GOOD AND LUXURIOUS BOOK FOR ALL OLD DISNEY FANS...VERY PLEASANT TO SEE AND READ...VERY INTERESTING TO INTRODUCE IN WONDERFULL WORLD OF DISNEY ANIMATION FILMS...

I was lucky enough to receive the Animation Archive Series books on Animation, Design, and Story last Christmas, and this year I was able to complete the set! The books are all amazing, each full of so many different images, many from some of their older or less popular films, making each book a visual timeline for the company.

This book specifically is a treasure to look at, as the backgrounds are something we don't always pay attention to during the viewing of the films, partly because the role of the background in an animated movie is to remain in the BACK. But when a background is done well, it becomes an environment, something real that the characters live in, and that's exactly what this book showcases.

If you liked the rest of the books in the series or are just a nut about layouts and backgrounds, this book will not disappoint!

This is the best disney's art book I've ever seen ! As an illustrator this ultimate collection of animated movies backgrounds is a gold mine.

You could not expect less than the previous three books. Images are so amazing that you can hardly pass to the next page. Those Peter Pan, Pinocchio, even Roger Rabbit backgrounds are superb !

I have not had an opportunity to read this book thoroughly, but this series seems to cover the details that my company is most interested in, and I'm glad to have an opportunity to add it to our little library of resource materials.