Prince of Egypt (Hardcover)

by Charles Solomon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Charles Solomon heeds the maxim that one picture is worth a thousand words in The Prince of Egypt: A New Vision in Animation. Dedicated to exploring the behind-the-scenes making of DreamWorks' first animated film, the book is a gorgeous compilation of artwork, from preliminary sketches to final product, that demonstrates the complicated process of bringing cartoon characters to life. What text there is is mostly tucked away in the form of captions, along with brief introductions to each chapter and a short section at the end containing information on such topics as the music, the layout, the story, and the animators. This lush, beautiful book will appeal both to fans of the movie and readers with a more general interest in animation. What's more, it'll look great on your coffee table.

Review
Charles Solomon, a respected authority on animation ... does a good job of explaining how The Prince of Egypt integrates the handmade images of traditional animation with the highly flexible and mobile images generated by computer. -- The New York Times Book Review, Martha Bayles

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (November 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810943697
• ISBN-13: 978-0810943698
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 10.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #603,163 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The focus of the book is the artwork, and not the text., December 24, 1998

By A Customer

The model for a "Making of ..." book must be "Toy Story" by John Lassetter & Steve Daly. It had artwork and designs from preliminary sketches through to realized shots, coupled with stories, techniques and anecdotes about the entire production start to finish.

Prince of Egypt comes close on the artwork front, but tends toward showing the final shots and some minor development work. The text is more concerned with captions for the pictures, with a section at the end of the book for some technique overviews and personal interviews.

Having said all this, for anyone (and I mean anyone!) who even remotely appreciates the artwork that animation is capable of rendering then this book is a must. The design of Prince of Egypt is the star of this book and to some degree the film too.

If you are looking for an indepth story of the films' production you will be disappointed. If you are looking for a record of the amazing work that is displayed on the theatre screen, then you can't go wrong with this title.

I recommend it as one of most visually stunning books around.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indepth walkthrough on the art and production process, January 9, 2009

By	Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Prince of Egypt: A New Vision in Animation (Hardcover)

Length:: 0:20 Mins

When The Prince of Egypt came out in 1998, it featured some spectacular visual effects ever used in animation. In this book, it shows the art and research done for the movie.

It includes set paintings, storyboards and character designs. The production design is excellent. The mood of old Egypt is recreated perfectly with the amazing use of lighting and restricted colour palette.

The text throughout explain the process of making the animation. For example, it talks about the difficulty in portraying Moses, on how costumes had to be designed to look Egyptian, on looking for the right actors for voice acting and more.

At the back of the book is the summary on all areas of production. It includes, the story structure, design, layout, voices, animation, backgrounds, music and effects.

This is a great art book.

There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new vision in animation., October 9, 1999

By A Customer

The Prince of Egypt is the first animated film in history to SUCCESSFULLY integrate both traditional cell animation and computer generated images. A breathtaking film, with a scope rarely seen in films today, much less ANIMATED films. The Dreamworks team is a formidible new force in animation - they treat animation as an art form and as a storytelling medium. Not as a summer PRODUCT, like the Disney team. Disney could only hope to produce something this good.