Animation Books


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Animation Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Animation
Hooray for Fish!: Candlewick Storybook Animations (Candlewick Storybook Animation)
Published in Hardcover by Candlewick (2008-09-23)
Author:
List price: $14.99
New price: $8.94
Used price: $8.84

Average review score:

Really fun book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-30
My 18 month old loves the pictures and I enjoy reading it over and over and over and over.

This book is wonderful
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-03
Like another reviewer said, it's a shame it doesn't come in a board book version. My 2 year old daughter adores this book and carries it around with her everywhere. Our copy is dog-eared and taped to death, but she still loves it! Still, a smaller, sturdier version would be very welcome.

Great book! Great gift!! - Love the boardbook option!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-30
I was given this book in the hardcover format as a baby shower gift. My daughter (now 20 months old) has LOVED it since the first time we read it. The bright colors and beautiful rhymes hold her attention. Now she loves pointing to all of the fish as I describe them. I was so happy when they started making the boardbook format. I stock up - buying 4 or 5 at a time - and give them away for EVERY baby shower or new baby gift. This is a FABULOUS book that ALL kids should have in their collection.

Hooray for this book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-19
Our boys (ages 2 and 4) love Maisy books and shows so we checked out this book from the library when we saw it. They loved it so much we bought our own copy. It is a big, hard cover book with big, bright, colorful pictures. It is a happy fun read for them with lots to look at. Great for bed time or any time.

Terrific board book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-27
My 7-month old is fascinated by this book. Beautiful illustrations that really capture his attention. He likes the rhymes and rhythms--he actually listens to the story instead of just trying to eat the book. This is a perfect bedtime story for him.

Animation
ActionScripting in Flash
Published in Paperback by Sams (2001-04-09)
Author: Phillip Kerman
List price: $39.99
New price: $0.99
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

This should not come as a surprise
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-02-16
I am sure if you glance at the rest of the reviews you will be more than tempted to buy this book. Well, you should! Kerman's way of introducing the LOGIC behind actionScript is phenomenal. This books should help pave the way for you to grasp the logic behind actionScript. Why not 5 stars then? Well, I thought there would be more practical examples than the book included. Definitely worth the money!

To soon
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2002-11-12
I'm sorry I bought this book!
Because it's so good!
And now the MX version is out,
but I already have the Flash 5 one!
Anybody wants to buy it off me,
so I can get the new issue?
;-)

Clone this author! The BEST actionscript book I've read!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-05-30
This is the first book I've read by Phillip Kerman. I will now go hunt for his next one - or all of them, to be honest! This book doesn't learn You any Flash or design, but it gives You everything You need to know about actionscripting. Tastefully presented and easy to read. If You are the perfect object oriented programmer - You could skip some chapters, but if You're just an "almost" perfect programer in object oriented languages - this book will give You the last skills that makes You perfect! Yes it really does not only cover actionscripting - it gives You a visual and very educational lesson in object oriented programing.

Hits the Mark
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-04-10
Wow!

This is a GREAT book for the graphic/web designer wanting to learn actionscript. I own or have read many others that don't cover the basics or the thought processes behind writing in a scripting language. Most books on this topic started out over my head with little explaination and were accompanied by buggy and/or old code. With clear and consice writing, Philip uses the first half of the book to fully explain programming concepts as they pertain to scripting in Flash, and then follows up with examples of how to implement these ideas.

I can't say enough about how far this book has taken me into the scripting world. Kudos to Kerman.

WOW - Buy it Buy it Buy it!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2002-04-24
If you're looking for a book with lots of pictures and fluff this is not the book for you.
But if you're actually interested in learning to program ActionScript this is the first and only book you should buy.

Phillip Kerman explains everything in a clear understandable way and approaches the ideas of good programming as opposed to bad as well as the actual language itself. This alone will save you hours of re-doing what you've already done. Phillip gets you thinking like a programmer (a fairly new concept to a lot of designers trying to make their Flash more interactive.) Learn to design completely independent re-usable interfaces so that not only are you developing advanced interactive web-applications, you're also building a library of sample re-usable building blocks that you can re-use over and over.

Even if you're new to the language, take some tutorials online to get the basics and then buy this book. Read it and do the tutorials in it and soon you will be programming like a professional in no time. This is the best book on ActionScripting period! and I own 16 books on Flash Development!

Animation
LightWave 3D 8: 1001 Tips & Tricks
Published in Hardcover by Wordware Publishing, Inc. (2004-07-25)
Author:
List price: $39.95
New price: $8.97
Used price: $8.97

Average review score:

A Five Star-Rating Isn't Enough!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-31
There are lots of great books and DVDs available to teach the intracasies of Lightwave. This one is a stand-out! Densely packed with useful little tricks that you probably won't find anywhere else, this indispensible book can't help but increase your productivity and enjoyment of Lightwave 3D. You won't get just one author's School of Hard Knocks-earned knowledge, you get to learn from the experiences of thirty! This book is a must-have that you'll reach for again and again. This little gem proudly sports the most worn covers of any Lightwave reference book on my (full) shelf.

CC Clarke

Bathroom reading
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-10
Yeah nice book, can't wait to get in the bathroom to read some more, 3D animation
is making a big red ring around my a _ _ , Empire of the Sun is starting I'll sit here and watch that too! It's cold in here, is that true about cold surfaces and what they do to your *&#%@^( ?

Most have for Serious LightWavers
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-05
The book, 1001 Tips & Tricks, has straightforward techniques approach to Learning Advanced LightWave Skills and Knowledge. I purchased Timothy Albee's Lightwave 3D, "Getting Started Guide" which came with my purchase of the program, LightWave from Newtek. The Book got me started back in 2005. (A general skills book covers a broad range of LightWave. But does not get too deep, which is good for beginners.)

I was very interested in and loved cartooning and character creation in 3D. So I purchased Jonny Gorden's "Cartoon Character Creation-Volume 2". If ya don't know and wanna learn Rigging right, get this book. Jonny be getting off with his techniques in this bad boy. Loved the book.

(Jonny's book covers A through Z in Rigging and Animation mostly plus overviews on general knowledge stuff as well. But since I already learned the basics with "Getting Started" I was able to get deep into Jonny's techniques.)

I was a professional Graphic Designer who wanted to move over to the 3D world, I desired to be a power-user at 3D animation. So I purchased Dan Alban's "LightWave [8]," extremely good learning tool. Dan's book got my doing just about anything I could imagine.

(In Depth book cover almost everything. Big pictures illustrations and nicely written make learn easier. Ya gotta get this one.)

But in some areas I was still creating very slowly. Like how to optimize a detailed and completed scene for a render farm, so that I could not only render, but also render scenes very fast. How to build a scene for a real movie that would render quicker than if I built it another way.

For example, I built a scene which took four months to render on a 4 node render farm of fast G5 with 2 gigs of Ram. I'm thinking that, I've got to be able to create the same scene, but in such as that it would render in say, two weeks. I wanted to learn the fastest power moves, since I work alone in my home studio. I do not have peers and co-worker to exchanged knowledge with

Then, I order this book, and it fit the bill. It helps to complete my learning needs and answered and reconfirmed, other books and technique that I pick up off of the Internet.

This is an excellent book it is a most get. Although I got it for advanced how tos; there is beginner level help here as well. A lot of the dudes and dudettes that I've learned from through downloading Internet QuickTime movies from the Newtek website and other places, these movies are excellent show and tell ways to learn. But with expressions and certain dynamic it is good to have it in a book form as well.

(Since there are so many experts contributing to this book, you get a really balanced guide to knowledge. If you are going to be a power-user, this book completes the other books and knowledge that I have accumulated. You got to it as well.) "1000 Tips and Tricks," book is worth every penny of the cost.

More is more
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-10-10
I'm one of the authors, so take that into account. Still, there are around thirty authors total so I'm at most 1/30th biased.

That being said, this is a real standout among LightWave books and one I'm proud to be part of. The strength is in the numbers - never before have you gotten such a wide and varied number of opinions in one place. Because there are so many different approachs to creating 3D art, this book is really a must own and it's a book you'll go back to again and again. I keep a copy on my desk, within easy reach and I pick it up for reference or for some quick reading during a render.

It also covers a wide variety of topics, from lighting to surfacing to LScripts. Not every tip is something I agree with, but that's the beauty of this book - there's just so much information here that you'll be finding new things to think about or to add to your work for years to come.

Fantastic but a bit redundant
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-28
The blurbs about this book are right. There are no other places I have found for the kind and quality of information contained in this book... at least for a non-super expert in Lightwave 3D.

Yet at the same time, there is much redundancy within the book itself (several tips are essentially identical) and with the reference manual provided by NewTek.

So there are really quite a few less than 1001 super neat and fantabulous tips and tricks here, but there are plenty enough to make the purchase a valuable addition to your reference library for LW8.

Animation
Macromedia Flash MX Designer's ActionScript Reference
Published in Paperback by friends of ED (2003-07-01)
Authors: Jen deHaan, Sham Bhangal, Glen Rhodes, Scott Mebberson, Tim Parker, and John Davey
List price: $49.99
New price: $32.50
Used price: $29.99

Average review score:

Dated, but was a good resource for Cross-Compatible AS
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-11
I have actually used this reference for years as needed for ActionScript. I still had a good use for this text in ensuring compatibility with Flash MX until the lack of features became too overwhelming. This is in the face of newer versions of Flash such as CS3 (9.0) that use ActionScript 2.0/3.0. All in all, this book was wonderful until the release of Flash 8.

Because of the new Filters that have come out with Flash 8.0 and the features of ActionScript 2.0 to support these and other enhancements, I would instead recommend Flash 8 ActionScript Bible if one is concerned with cross-compatibility in their ActionScript code and wishes to still be able to use AS with newer features such as Filters (but not as new as Transitions or other CS3 exclusive features - for that, I'd recommend ActionScript 3.0 Bible or something similar).

As far as who I could possibly recommend this book for: It's good for somebody who is still working with Flash MX 2004 and below to Flash 5 (much of the text is compatible with Flash 5), however, I don't know that there are many of those sorts of individuals.

Excellent Resource
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-16
This book is a great resource for when you're looking for that specific line of code. Its terrible to read from front to back, but its an excellent way to find exactly what you're looking for. Its so much code, it'll make your eyes bleed.

This book delivers all it says and then some.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-12-02
One of the few comprehensive actionsctipt titles on the market. The first half of the book boasts a large variety of tutorials and examples that skillfully lead the reader through both the syntax and use of actionscript. Personally I found the text clear and practical. The chapters on OOP were of particular value as they went beyond actionscript basics into application, bordering on philosophical.

The second half is an invaluable reference of the entire actionscript dictionary with a comprehensive CD full of .fla example files and bonus chapters on the XML Object. As a qualified teacher I found it hard to fault the methodology employed by the various authors.

Well worth the purchase.

A programmers perspective
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-10-28
I am a former programming teacher and I have a style to teach my students the most UNDERSTANDABLE way to do something not just how to do it. This text/reference achieves that purpose. If you have an understanding of Flash (which you should have before getting into scripting see Weinman books) then this book will serve you well. There are other books on scripting - great books - such as Moock's books but they are more so for the programmer. This book is for the novelist programmer that desires to learn about action scripting.

Relating to beginners
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-30
5 stars if you know Flash well.
1 star if you haven't had any experience with it at all.

I was a beginner once, who couldn't figure out Flash at all. I'd like to help you build a bridge between where you may be now, as a beginner, to where you may find yourself aspiring to go.

If your only experience with Flash is to have seen the many wonderful and breathtaking Flash movies on the Internet and just had a look at the authoring tool, I strongly recommend that you leave this book until much later. It has its place in the learning curve but it isn't, in my opinion, the first book to see.

There are understandings to possess that this book doesn't cover sufficiently well enough for those whose minds work in particular ways. This is a programming book, for using the phenomenon of programming to create great design and animations. Whilst the focus is on design, you aren't using the design tools on the interface. With this book, you are using the Actionscript language and you have to have a logical mind for this activity (as well as keeping your strong creative one).

I began my steep learning curve with Flash by watching others and watching video tutorials, especially those by George Pierson. In this way, I can ask questions that are tailored for me and I get tailored responses. Books aren't always able to do so well here.

What is great about this book is the MX Actionscript reference in it and the seemingly well designed theory tutorials. I can't find a fault with the reference. The theory is quite good. In the reference, all Flash MX commands are covered. There are examples of how to use them, but the coverage may not be enough for some. Brill. Just BRILL. I can be excited but because I can follow Actionscript.

Approach this book when you are successfully making Flash movies on your own. Yes, on your own. For me, this book is an aid for when I am going to where I haven't gone to before. It helps me make judgements on ideas I get.

Animation
Adobe Premiere Elements 2 in a Snap (Sams Teach Yourself)
Published in Paperback by Sams (2005-11-27)
Authors: Steve Grisetti and Chuck Engels
List price: $24.99
New price: $11.77
Used price: $4.95

Average review score:

Shockingly good
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-27
This book, which highlights a fairly outdated version of Adobe Premiere Elements, is nevertheless extremely useful. After reading the reviews of newer versions of the Premiere Elements software, I decided to stick with 2.0 until I become much more adept at video editing. For a relatively small purchase price, this book will definitely be a huge help for me. Because it is: a) task oriented, b) easy to understand, c) contains intuitive links to other tasks, d) is well organized by section number, this book is highly consumable. I can't recommend it highly enough. Actually, as painful as this sounds, it may be worth toughing it out for a few weeks with the Adobe documentation that comes with the product, and then turbo-boosting your success with this book. Incidentally, the fact that the editors have bona fide video production chops versus tech writing skills was not lost on me!

Review In a Snap
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-04
If you have Adobe Premiere Elements 2 or 3 or version 4 this book is the answer to your questions. Even though it was written long ago it covers all the basic stuff to get you going. The price at Amazon is great too compared to a bookstore. It has saved me untold hours of frustration already. It's well laid out and relatively easy to follow.

A good book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-16
Deals with many complex concepts in a concise manner. I'm a beginner to video editing and have found it a invaluable source of knowledge. So far I have been able to accomplish my editing goals using the book and the help system in Premiere elements.

Easy to use
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-11
This book is very well organized and easy to understand. As a newby to Premiere it was very helpful. I still refer to this book often and I think it is one of the reasons I feel proficient in Premiere today. It's only shortcoming is limited info on how to use the audio effects in Premiere

Premiere Elements 3 users
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-17
Premiere Elements 3 users, this book is for you too! Being new to video editing, I was wary of a book that was not version specific. No need to worry, this book works well with version 3. Whether you are a beginner or advanced this book has it all. The format makes this book superior to others. The inside front cover has 'Contents at a Glance' index that directs you to the section for a specific task eliminating wasted time searching or reading unneeded info.

Just pick a task and go straight to that section. Each section has a guide on what to read before you begin and other related topics, key terms, tips, and best of all step-by-step instructions with illustrations.

After reading the dry manual, it was wonderful to have an easy to read, concise, and informative book. This book takes the frustration out of video editing and puts in the fun. The authors also have online tutorials that make a good companion to the book at [...].

Animation
The Art of Final Fantasy IX
Published in Paperback by BRADY GAMES (2000-12-08)
Author: Dan Birlew
List price: $19.99
New price: $209.05
Used price: $21.55

Average review score:

Almost perfect, missed a few (important) characters...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-04
First of all, I will say the few things I wish were included on this art book.

- More pictures of Kuja's design.
- Pictures of Queen Brahne in the characters section.
- A picture of Zidane on trance form.
- More data to identify characters, name when possible, place where they are found when not (I am not sure if Puck appears in this book or not, and I have to check the in game graphics to know who other characters are).

That's it. Those are the points that make this book not reach the absolute perfection for me.

That said, I still love what is in the book! There are designs for many characters, even some who are not very important in the story, and there are different designs for the non-playable characters when they have variations in their clothes or hair.

The equipment section and the airship section have lots of details. Those are great for fan-artists!

The section with pictures from the in-game animations has a poster-like selection that will make you remember all those moments from the story.

I'm afraid that everything I say now will sound very fan-boyish, since Final Fantasy IX is my favorite of them all (beating Final Fantasy V, something I didn't thought was possible), so I hope what I have already said helps you somewhat in your decision to buy this book.

Awesome Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-11
I got this book through another online retailer for half the price these U&N people are selling for. You just need to shop around.

I'm an artist, and I have a fondness for the Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy IX was a challenge for me and after beating it, my claim is that it's the best in the series so far. After watching the last cutscene, I knew I had to have this book. I was very pleased when it arrived and have found it useful even today. FF9 is one of the most franchised game of the FF's(second to 7); I wouldn't waste that if you're a fan of it.

FF9 fans will be pleased.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-02
It's got all the characters, all the settings, all the fun. FF9 was my favorited in the series so I just had to get this homage to it. It's just fun to look at the sketches and rough-drafts and such. The town designs are really amazing.

If you're a fan of the FF series, anime, or just incredible art, I suggest you check this out.

Beautiful, Just Beautiful Drawings from the Best
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-02-12
I love Final Fantasy!! I have been a die hard fan since part one was released in 1990. There are several books out that show the visual effects from the Final Fantasy series, but this one is by far the best. It is strait forward, art, from the original designer of FF characters, Yoshitaka Amano. Page for page you will see the steps that he followed making this characters shine.

The main reason that I took one star away was because most of the art in this book is finished up designs from Amano. I am a very big fan of his work, ex. Vampire Hunter D, FF1-6,and 9 adn several other Japaneese work. I enjoy his early sketches better, they are much more fantasy like. But that does not mean that this collection is not beautiful as printed.

This is a beautiful editon to any Final Fantasy collecton or just plain art or drawings collection. Dont pass this up.

Wonderful Art of Final Fantasy IX!!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-09-10
When I bought this book, I expected mostly black and white photos and small screenshots from the game, but when I opened it up I was happily suprised with a book full of large, colorful artwork. Being a fan of the game series itself, this book especially appealed to me, as it probably would to many other FF players. But even those who do not play the game will find them selves impressed with the tons of fantastic artwork that fills its pages. I definitely recommened this book if you are a fan of the game or just love great art!

Animation
The Art of Kung Fu Panda
Published in Hardcover by Insight Editions (2008-05-13)
Author: Tracey Miller-Zarneke
List price: $45.00
New price: $28.00
Collectible price: $95.00

Average review score:

an awesome art book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-20
I admit, that when I first saw the previews for the 3D movie Kung Fu Panda, I was not impressed. In fact, I did not want to see the movie at all. And then I got this book, "The Art of Kung Fu Panda" and my resolve to not see the movie crumbled into nothing. The artwork in this book is amazing, from the fun and creative character designs, to the beautiful layouts and concept paintings. This book made me really excited about seeing the movie, which I did. And the movie, like the book, is great.

Fantastic "Kungfu Panda"
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-16
It's so fantastic to have this artbook! I could enjoy the world of "Kungfu Panda" again. All the detailed and beautiful illustrations, and it's also good to read film making stories. I think it's the best artbook I've ever had:)

The Wonderful World of Kung Fu Panda
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-16
I love the photos and illustrations of this book.
I am a Kung Fu Panda Fan and this book is a wonderful addition to my collection from the movie. The price Amazon offered saved me money!
Highly recommended!

Suberb
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-15
When the book arrived I must say I was really amazed with the quality of the good. Firstly, The book format is bigger than I imagined and the number of pages and quality of the print are awesome! No issues at all at this part.
And as for the content, is really inspirational. all the landscapes, concepts, designs and so many other things really show how detailed was the entire production of the movie.
The only thing I was missing were the images that appear at the ending credits from the movie. But that only shows the uncountable material to be featured in the book. Thumbs up for the whole crew.
PLUS, u can get a little poster from the movie :)

SWEET!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-07
I'm pretty picky when it comes to art books, especially when the art style isn't what I'm looking for. This book, however, has various styles that I actually enjoyed, and it isn't even in a style I'm particularly fond of either! What makes it so interesting, you ask? Well, for one, you get to see and understand why the producers chose the particular art style for the movie, and it makes a lot of sense.

If you've seen the movie already, you know how the intro movie goes (all in 2D at first), the author explains why they chose to go with that style and how they came up with the idea.

From 2D sketches from various character designers to the final 3D output of the characaters and environments, you won't be disappointed at how they all turned out. Most of them didn't make in the movie, but you eventually find out why. Some of the art is so good, you won't even be able to tell if it's 2D or 3D. Vibrant colors fill up the pages in this book, and the overall design for the cover inside and out will make you want to come back to this book, even if it's just for fun or for your personal reference to character/environment design. PICK THIS ONE UP!

Animation
The Art of Cars
Published in Hardcover by Chronicle Books (2006-05-04)
Authors: Suzanne Fitzgerald Wallis and Michael Wallis
List price: $40.00
New price: $22.99
Used price: $15.00
Collectible price: $40.00

Average review score:

Wonderful Journey Through Research and Art
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-11
From John Lasseter's foreword:
It also became a journey with its own reward, one we wanted to share with you in this book. -end-

With that, the book brings you onto a fantastic journey on the creative process of creating Cars, the movie close to John Lasseter's heart.

The few pages of stories separating the art let you understand how research was done, what the artists learn and ideas they want to bring across to the audience.

This book is filled with plenty of concept art drawings. Pixar artists draw hundreds of drawings each day but only selected ones were included into the book due to the limited number of pages. Every page is packed with art.

Also included are storyboards, architectural drawings, landscape drawings, lighting studies, car decor sketches, photos from their road trips.

This is a wonderful selection of drawings pulled off directly from the drawing board.

There are some pictures of the book on my blog. Just do a search on "parka blogs cars art"

Tha Art of Cars
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-17
I was pleased to have this book be in prime condition when it arrived. The price was excellent. The order came in a timely fashion.

The Art of books by Pixar are wonderful. For the artist these books give a great background into how the art brought the story alive.

I highly recommend these books, especially for those who love Pixar.

Beautifully compiled book of the art and animation process
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-17
If you enjoy learning the behind the scenes process that goes into many of the animated and computer animated films of today, you will love this book.

It shows step by step the drawings and thoughts that went into each character in Radiator Springs and also the creation of all the backdrops. From the smallest signs and orange cones to the racetrack and beyond, you can see how it all evolved.

It's nicely bound with a great jacket cover. Definitely a nice coffee table book your guests will enjoy leafing through or the perfect addition to the library of any art and animation lover.

must have item
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-20
I purchased this art of book recently and found it one of the best art of books I now own. The illustrations are very helpful to my concept art assignments. Great reading

Wonderful art book for a great movie.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-12
Pixar's most recent animation is fully revealed in this wonderful art book. All the research, ideas, and concepts are printed gorgeously in this book. You see how the ideas are captured on paper to guide the production teams to make one of the best animation in years. Conceptual ideas of characters from the beginning to the final rendered CGI model on screen are all there. The landscape is captured in with colorful pastel paintings. Even all the details from neon signs to the Southwest vegetation are drawn out for you to see. Everything in the book is traditional artwork techniques from pastels, blue pencil, to gray scale markers. Only a few pages have any 3D images for you to see, but in an age where everything is computerized... its really nice to see that old fashioned techniques being used.

Its a quality book I highly recommend for the Pixar fan, 3D animation enthusiast, and art students.

Animation
A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition
Published in Hardcover by Collins (2000-11-01)
Authors: Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez
List price: $29.95
New price: $7.00
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $29.95

Average review score:

A Treasure
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-13
A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition is a treasure for those -- like me -- who love this Christmas classic. It is a great "behind the scenes look" that includes photos of the cast of characters whose voices are so familiar. Give it as a gift to the "Peanuts Fan" in your life.
Philip D. Halfacre
Author, Genuine Friendship

A Christmas Treat for Peanuts' Fans
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-24
While we've been treated to many Charles Schulz documentaries and remembrances over the years, "A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition" is the first book to focus on the first Peanuts' television special. The book includes in-depth interviews with producer Lee Mendelson, animator Bill Melendez, and Vince Guaraldi's children. This book is the ultimate backstage pass to the recording studio, with interviews with the original child actors who voiced the characters and sang on Guaraldi's "Christmas Time is Here." As a bonus treat, the script and original animation art round out the book.

A Very Nice Collection of Material!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-03
I loved this book! It has material for every fan of the famous TV special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas". I may not be musical, but if you are, this book includes the music. I am fond of the discussions of the people involved in creating the production of the TV show and the script. I will be using the script in my classroom for Reader's Theatre. The book has a lot of material that has meaning for me personally. I was young when this special was shown on television and it was always one of my favorites. The book was not a disappointment to read and own. I am very glad I bought it.

What's not to love ?
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-04
This is the ultimate companion to the tv show. The art work is from the original show and the dialogue is a great bonus! The book is also packed with great trivia and information about the decisions "behind stage" that led to the creation of the ultimate Christmas Special.

Christmas time is here... happiness and cheer...
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-11
"Charlie Brown Christmas" is the crown jewel of Christmas specials. Heavy on holiday introspection, but with the dry wit and humor you'd come to expect from Charles Schulz's creations.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition" just expands that experience, by outlining how the famed special came to be -- the music, the animation, the voice acting, even the advertisement to get people to watch it. It's a charming, nostalgic little book, and a good accompaniment.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" was spun up quickly, when Coca Cola wanted a Christmas special in less than a week -- and Charles Schulz's lovable loser Charlie Brown seemed to be the ticket. But the special was made very differently from other cartoons -- 2-D animation, no laugh track, uncutesy kids, and (horrors!) a jazz soundtrack. It was doomed to fail, they said.

Well, instead it became a booming hit, and has been running every December ever since. Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez reminisce in here about the much-loved Charles Schulz, and about Vince Guaraldi, who made the distinctive piano soundtrack, and why it's so beloved -- it dares to approach holiday ennui and commercialization, then dashes it away with Linus' description of Christmas' meaning.

As for the "making of" portion, there are storyboards, musical scores, test photos, clips of television reviews, and rare photos like Melendez and Schulz doing the football gag. Finally, there is the entire script of the special, framed by colourful stills from the cartoon.

You couldn't wring this much information from most half-hour animated specials, no matter how much fun they were. But it's a bit different with "Charlie Brown Christmas." It was so completely unusual -- and has proved to be so timeless -- that a book on the making of it, and its effect, seems completely right.

It's a very conversational, reminiscent book. It feels like sitting in a room with Melendez and Mendelson, listening to them reminisce about "Sparky." And we also get input from other people involved in the project, such as Christopher Shea (Linus), who talks about his famous "Second Chapter of Luke" speech, as well as odd bits of trivia (the little girl playing Sally had to be fed her lines).

The Christmas special is more than able to stand on its own, but "Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition" is a wonderful accompaniment. Full of interesting tidbits and history.

Animation
To Infinity and Beyond!: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios
Published in Hardcover by Chronicle Books (2007-11-01)
Author: Karen Paik
List price: $75.00
New price: $38.53
Used price: $24.99

Average review score:

This book is so full of story
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-06
This book is stunning. Simply stunning.

This is the latest collection to my Pixar artbook. Almost immediately, I wrapped the book up to protect the cover from the elements. The bright green cover is made of cloth-like fabric and attracts dust easily. After picking it from my desk from photographing it, some parts of the cover had already became dirty!

Old school photos, high resolution renders, great writing filled the pages made of high quality paper stock.

It tells the history of Pixar animation studios before there was Pixar animation studios, all the way up to the Disney bought-over. It stops just right before Ratatouille or there would probably be more written on Brad Bird. You'll find the true meaning of passion, determination and the love for their art.

If you've owned other Pixar artbooks, you'll be pleased to note that there are quite a lot of new, never-been-printed photos in the book. You're going to see tons of new images.

There are some photos of the pages from the book on my blog. Just do a search on "parka blogs infinity beyond"

How passion came to life
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-28
Dear animation lover. This book will restore your faith in the power of passion. With a never failing belief in the craftmanship of delivering a great story Pixar showed the possibilities of a good marriage between art and technique. Off course, some luck of being in the right place at the right time counts as well.

The book starts with the original background of the pixar machine as a calculating machine to the point where Disney takes over.

I also have almost every Pixar art-of book there is, but the movies described in the book (including all the shorts) are mostly viewed from a Pixar company point of view. This way you get a great overall view.

As it is my dream to come close to the Pixar company, this is probably the closest you can get the heart of Pixar when you are living far away...

Great !
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-19
Great book,
have to read a lot but very very interesting.
Great image quality and edition.
I'm loving it!


Martina,
Buenos Aires
Argentina

Fantastic Book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-30
If you're at all a Pixar fan, or even an animation fan, this book deserves a place on your shelf!

Geat content but quite some 'bad digitized' pictures
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-25
The content of the book is as high quality and colorfull as the company it describes. Also the author did a good job at documenting the history of the company.

However, in the making of this book someone made a couple of mistakes. There are tens of images which have unacceptable 'pixelation' (i.e. blockiness due to overstretching of digital images). Especially the full page spread on p. 220 jumps out with pixels blown up to almost milimeter size!

This is quite dissappointing to me, especially as it is the artwork of a company which spearheads the way in digital imaging! I can imagine this is a slap in the face of some of the artitst and it would definitely not pass through their quality system if the book was produced by Pixar.

Overall the majority of the images in the book are very well reproduced, so I take the couple of handfull of bad apples for granted.



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