The Art of The Wind Rises Book Coming Very Soon

Since it was announced that The Wind Rises would be Hayao Miyazaki's final film, I have been anticipating the release of the art book. Viz Media announced last week, via the Anime News Network, that they would be publishing The Art of The Wind Rises on 8th April - which is just days away - for the price of $34.00 USD/$39.99 CAN.

The Art of Kiki's Delivery Service Review

When my boyfriend got me The Art of Kiki's Delivery Service for Christmas, I was ecstatic. Kiki's Delivery Service is my favourite Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki film - though I realize it is not the best one of the bunch. It served as my first exposure to the world of Studio Ghibli, and also served to show me that I wasn't alone in adolescence. So I hold this film very close to my heart for expressing how I felt and giving me something new to love. Now, having read The Art of Kiki's Delivery Service, I feel even more strongly about my love for both Studio Ghibli and the film.

Exclusive: Full Spreads from Titan Books' The Art of Mr. Peabody & Sherman

The Art of Mr Peabody & Sherman is out now from Titan Books. © 2014 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C.

As we announced moments ago, we're giving away a free copy of Titan Books' new DreamWorks Art of book, The Art of Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and we've got an exclusive gallery of some great spreads from the book to share with you! Whet your appetite below.

Competition: Win a Copy of The Art of Turbo! [NOW CLOSED]

Dreamworks' Turbo is released in cinemas this Friday and to celebrate A113Animation are offering readers the chance to win a copy of THE ART OF TURBO. We are giving away a whopping five copies, check out the terms and conditions below.

The Art of Epic Review - Fifty Shades of Green

The latest film from the studio who previously brought you Ice Age and Robots is out in cinemas now; as such, Titan have released an accompanying Art of book for the Chris Wedge film. We've actually had a copy of the book for a month or so, but schedules being what they are, we've not had the chance to review it until now. If you're in the UK, you can win yourself a free copy too, by entering our competition here. Before that though, check out our review below.

Exclusive: Concept Art from The Art of Epic

Next month, Blue Sky Studios will release their eighth feature film, the Chris Wedge-directed Epic. To prelude that release, Titan Books will release The Art of Epic, featuring a collection of gorgeous (and very green) concept art from the production of the film, on 3rd May. The kind PR folks over at Titan were nice enough to send us some over to share with you all.

Fantastic New Batch of Monsters University Concept Art

Monsters University Scare School colour exploration -- Dice Tsutsumi
(digital, 2010)

Pixar's fourteenth feature film is fast approaching, but almost as eagerly anticipated - particularly going off how vibrant and beautiful the trailers have been - is the accompanying Art of book, The Art of Monsters University. To help hype both the book and the film, and give us all a peek at how the talented artists at Pixar created the extended monster world for Monsters U, Disney and Pixar have rolled out an array of beautiful new concept art.

The Art of The Croods Review

The Croods, directed by How to Train Your Dragon's Chris Sanders and Space Chimps' Kirk DeMicco, is DreamWorks' first film under Fox. While it seems critics aren't all too taken with the story of "the world's first family", one area that has been unanimously praised is the film's visuals. As such, and going off the beautiful shots we've seen in the trailers, the Art of book looked to be a must-buy. With just under a week to go until the release of the film, we can say that The Art of The Croods is definitely worth the purchase for animation fans.

New Production Art from The Croods

© DreamWorks 2013
Credit: The Art of the Croods, by Noela Hueso. £24.99, 15th March 2013,
Titan Books.

DreamWorks' first film of 2013, The Croods, is out in ten days and looks absolutely stunning (just look at this still from the film, and this one). As such, the film's companion art book is a must-buy! Titan Books, who're publishing, sent us a review copy of The Art of the Croods (by Noela Hueso) last month, and it's absolutely beautiful (as these books tend to be). It's not quite as brilliant as the book for Rise of the Guardians last year, but there's an awful lot to like - expect to see our review sometime this week.

Damien Reviews The Art of The Adventures of Tintin

By Damien.

A (Very) Late Review

It's not often that I receive 'Art of' books before I actually get to see the film it's based on. It happened three times: with Cars 2, Brave, and The Adventures of Tintin. With both Pixar flicks, I managed put off opening the book until I'd seen the film.
But with this one, curiosity got the best out of me, and I surrendered pretty quickly to my Tintin nerdiness.

Munir Reviews Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men: The Flipbooks

By Munir Abedrabbo.

The Nine Old Men are arguably the most revered group of people in all of Disney Animation, and one of the most famous in animation history. They have been responsible for creating many of the most indelible characters in the Disney canon. From Tinker Bell to Aurora, from Maleficent to Shere Khan, their animated creations are nothing short of spectacular. Their legacy has not only enchanted moviegoers throughout the years, but also influenced many animators that are now considered legends in their own right. It's also very important to remember that not only were they exceptionally talented animators, but they excelled at innovation too, creating many techniques that are now standard in the medium. With all these accolades, an homage was long overdue and, fortunately, the Walt Disney's Nine Old Men: The Flipbooks collection is a wonderful way to celebrate their beautiful art.

The Art of Monsters University Gets a Bright New Cover

We've got a steady stream of information, clips and images from Monsters University over the past couple of weeks and one conclusion we can clearly and confidently draw from them all is this: it's going to be a beautiful film!

Given the vibrant colours, the hilarious character designs and the inventive worlds on display, The Art of Monsters University looks set to be a must-buy. Amazon today updated their listing for the art book - which will be released by Chronicle Books in June in the US and on 1st July in the UK - with some great new concept art from the film. I just love the cartoony, fun shapes and the wide mix of colours. Noteworthy: like the trailers and clips, this cover seems to put just a bit more focus on Mike than on Sulley.

The Art of Monsters University is written by Karen Paik (The Art of Ratatouille), with prefaces by executive producer John Lasseter and Monsters, Inc. director Pete Docter, and a foreword by director Dan Scanlon. UK readers can pre-order it below.

Via The Pixar Daily.

The Art of Wreck-It Ralph Review - A Wreck-Tacular Art Book

I actually received Chronicle Books' latest accompanying Art of book when Wreck-It Ralph was released Stateside in November, but I thought it would probably prove useful to have something left to hype myself up for the film's inevitable UK release. And it has. So, with Disney's Wreck-It Ralph finally hitting UK cinemas tomorrow, I'm very happy to present a review of its wonderful, vibrant and quintessentially cartoony companion, The Art of Wreck-It Ralph.

Animation Titbits: Croods Motion Poster, 'Art of' Books, Partysaurus Rex and Frankenweenie Short

DreamWorks have rolled out a cool new motion poster (in the vein of fellow Fox stablemate, The Wolverine) for their first release of 2013, The Croods. Based on the existing poster we'd already seen, this cool new motion one shows some of the gorgeous sceneries and animals we can expect to encounter come March next year. It's embedded above, but follow this link if that doesn't work - be sure to toggle the definition up to 1080p. Also, try downloading the DreamWorks Animation Augmented Reality app and scanning the poster with your smart phone or iPod Touch - it's pretty cool.

Interview: Pete Oswald, Vis. Dev. Artist on Hotel Transylvania and ParaNorman

This latest A113Animation interview seems particularly relevant given our recent competition to give away a copy of an Art of book. The companion books to most animated films are a great portal behind the screen, giving you a look at the colossal glut of fantastic visual development artwork that goes into a production and that we might otherwise never get to see. When reviewing The Art and Making of ParaNorman and The Art and Making of Hotel Transylvania, one artist consistently stood out to me, Pete Oswald.

Pete's work was colourful, lively, caricatured, playful and full of cartoony energy! So, I sought Pete out, I found his website and sent him an email saying how much I enjoyed his work and asking if he'd mind doing an interview. Thankfully, he said yes - and expressed a great deal of enthusiasm about it too! Pete's a great guy; modest, helpful and very talented, and I'm grateful he took the time to speak to me.

In our interview - which we did via email - Pete and I discuss his role on the two aforementioned films, what working on them was like, his other work (including The Ricky Gervais Show!), working on Cloudy 2 for Sony right now, and broader animation. Check it out after the jump break!

The Art of Rise of the Guardians Review - Making the Children of the World Believe... in Great Art Books!

DreamWorks are definitely in their golden age right now. The studio once derided as a cheap Pixar-wannabe has output hit after hit in recent years, with two of their latest films (How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda 2) holding their own against Pixar's offerings each year; with the latter actually besting the Toy Story studio! With their latest film though, Rise of the Guardians, - based on the Guardians of Childhood book series by William Joyce (The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore) - DreamWorks look set to reach new heights in terms of sophistication, scale and visual splendour. So, I've been greatly anticipating the film, and - because of the previously mentioned visual splendour - the accompanying 'Art of' book!

A113Animation Competition - Win a Copy of The Art of Rise of the Guardians!

DreamWorks' latest feature film, Rise of the Guardians, is out soon, and it looks awesome! As per for an animated release, there's an accompanying 'Art of' book, and my review copy of it arrived today, courtesy of Titan Books. But this time we asked Titan for an extra copy - and they kindly obliged - so now we're giving you the chance to win a copy of The Art of Rise of the Guardians!

This is thanks, in part, for all of your great participation in our "A113 Ten Years" polls, and for visiting A113Animation. Plus, it's a really great book; I've only given it a quick glance so far (full review to follow), but so far I'm tempted to say this is the best 'Art of' book of the year!

What do you have to do to win? Well that's quite simple: you need to either Tweet us (@A113Animation), post on our wall on Facebook (facebook.com/a113animation) or email us (contact@a113animation.com), saying "I'd like to win The Art of Rise of the Guardians", or words to that effect. You can do all three if you like, so you can enter up to three times, and you have two weeks tomorrow, until 8th November, to do so. So get started, and good luck!

If you just can't risk not winning, then you can order the book via our Amazon Associates link below.

The Art of Rise of the Guardians, by Ramin Zahed, Titan Books (UK); Insight Editions (US). [16th October 2012, £24.99 (UK); 22nd October 2012, $40.00 (US)].

The Art and Making of Hotel Transylvania Review - Who Knew Monsters Were This Fun?

The latest 'Art of' book that I've had the chance to review is Titan Books' The Art and Making of Hotel Transylvania, showcasing the wonderful artwork of the latest film from Sony Pictures Animation, Hotel Transylvania - directed by Genndy Tartakovsky.

The Art and Making of ParaNorman Review - A Spookily Different 'Art of' Book

Confession: I only watched Coraline fully a few days ago. I'm not often a fan of spooky films, but I am a fan of Henry Selick, and adored The Nightmare Before Christmas, so I wanted to see Coraline, I just never got round to it. A couple of days ago, though, I decided to finally do it, and am very glad I did. Coraline is a fantastic, nuanced and refreshingly original film, with stylish direction and gorgeous animation; I only wish I could've seen it on the big screen. I watched it in anticipation of the latest film from Laika, the studio behind it, ParaNorman.

Coraline's animation was amazing, but ParaNorman's is apparently even better. Factor in that I've heard nary a bad review about it, and you end up with a film I'm pretty damn excited for (it's not out over here until 14th September). So, I was very excited to check out the accompanying 'Art of' book, The Art and Making of ParaNorman, which Chronicle Books were kind enough to send me a review copy of.

Interview: Luke Chueh, Pop Surrealist Artist

A few weeks ago I posted a review of pop surrealist artist Luke Chueh's debut 'art of' book, The Art of Luke Chueh: Bearing the Unbearable. I was just recently introduced to Luke and the art movement he represents, and have been enthralled by the startling originality of it. Although some of Luke's work was a little gory for my easily queasy disposition, on large, his work is fantastic! Widely symbolic and using a wide cast of cute, lovable and very clever characters, The Art of Luke Chueh is a great by for fans of art.

So, I was very excited and pleased when I got the chance to ask Luke a few questions via email, about his work, his origins and future, and how that links into animation - including his favourite animated film - and what parts of his work he'd be interested in adapting into animated shorts. Thanks to Lauren Woosey from the Titan Books publicity team for setting it up. Check out the interview after the jump break!