Inside Moon Bear: Discarded Storyboards and More

Last week we introduced you to Moon Bear, the great animated short being Kickstarted by Scotty Jo (of The Scotty Jo Podcast). The short is based on a storybook Scott made in college and is in the early stages of production. As such, he recently rolled out the above video, explaining the paramount importance of storyboarding and offering up some discarded boards from the short - set to Michael Giacchino's magnificent Up score.

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.

Chris Sanders Shares New Storyboards from The Croods

Chris Sanders, director (alongside Space Chimps' Kirk DeMicco) of DreamWorks' next feature film, The Croods, has released some cool storyboards from the caveman-comedy film, due out on 22nd March.

Planes Storyboards

A storyboard from Planes, Sequence 13

Courtesy of the website of Robb Pratt, the very talented Disney storyboard artist who brought us Superman Classic and Bizarro Classic, we get a look at some story art from Planes! Planes, being produced by DisneyToon Studios, is a spin-off from Pixar's widely successful Cars universe, and the world of Planes was introduced to us in the Cars Toon, Air Mater.

A storyboard from Planes, Sequence 23

Robb is working on Planes as a storyboard artist and has shared some of his work on the film on his website. There are a huge number of storyboards on the website, for sequences '13' and '23', and there's a slideshow function so that you can watch the boards in action; giving a feel of the actual film.

A storyboard from Planes, Sequence 43

There are also a few storyboards from sequence '43'. They seem to show some sort of festival, and have a wider variety of jets and emergency vehicles.

There's not a lot in terms of story we can grasp (other than a few settings) but these storyboards are great for giving us a look at the characters and the worlds! Remember there's a sequel, Planes: Fire & Rescue, coming up too!

Two and a Half Men's Jon Cryer lends his voice to Planes' main character, Dusty, and Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett also lends his voice to the film, currently due in 2013.

The Art of Brave Review - A Deep, Rich and Brave Art Book

I have been privileged to get the chance to read some great 'Art of' books over the past week, starting with Insight Editions' The Art of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and continuing now with Chronicle Books' The Art of Brave. Pixar's thirteenth feature film, Brave, looks set to be another classic, with great characters, great story, and a fantastic, gorgeous visual style. The Art of Brave reflects this. Always in these 'Art of' books, the artwork on display is fantastic, reflecting the unparalleled amount of work that goes into creating an animated film - regardless of the studio from which the film emanates - and The Art of Brave is just another utterly fantastic example of this.

The Art of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Review - A Wild, Exciting and Fun Art Book

The kind folks at Insight Editions were generous enough to send me a free review copy of their latest book The Art of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, which is available now. Since last year when I reviewed another DreamWorks 'Art of' book, The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2, I have purchased several more and varying 'Art of' books and acquired a greater understanding and respect for the process undergone in the production of an animated film and a keener eye for reviewing such books. That said, The Art of Madagascar 3 is fantastic.

Now, I've never been that great a fan of the Madagascar films; the first one was decent and pretty fun, the second was a marked improvement - funnier and more emotionally considerate - and this latest instalment is getting pretty good reviews so far. Moreover, I wasn't that keen on its artistic style either, it always looked a bit shoddy and rough to me. However, this book has done three things for me: once again, as with The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2, impressed me with the depth of production that goes into films at DreamWorks; given me a newfound admiration for, what I now recognise as, a very stylised artistic look, and got me more excited for Madagascar 3.

Interview: Enrico Casarosa, Pixarian and La Luna Director

Yesterday, I had the chance to speak to the very talented, very kind and very friendly Enrico Casarosa via phonecall, from Pixar. Enrico recently directed the Emeryville based studio's latest short film, La Luna, which will be paired with Brave this summer, and is now working on Bob Peterson's film, The Good Dinosaur. Despite his very busy schedule, Enrico was kind enough to accommodate me for 20 minutes of interview yesterday.

I'd also just like to take this opportunity to send out a huge thank you to Pixar's publicity king, Chris Wiggum, the kind gentleman who helped to arrange this all for me. I've admired Pixar from afar (as I'm sure you all know) for several years, so to get the opportunity to interview someone from the studio was phenomenal and was definitely one of the highlights of my year so far! It meant the world and I'm extremely grateful to Chris, Enrico and anyone and everyone else involved.

Points covered in the interview include: the story process for La Luna, it's accompanying book, the Pixar Shorts Collection: Volume 2, The Good Dinosaur and the studio in general. Read the full interview after the jump break:

New Brave Stills and Concept Art

Courtesy of Cine Marcado.

MTV yesterday debuted a brand new still from Pixar's Brave, while Disney Brazil (via Cine Marcado) bring us another three, showcasing a wide variety of scenes we've yet to see, including a renewed focus on the ominous bear that occupied part of the film's previous title (The Bear and the Bow) as well as Merida's mischievous young triplet brothers.

Courtesy of MTV.

Courtesy of Cine Marcado.

Courtesy of Cine Marcado.

We were also treated to a lively storyboard sketch (below) from Brave's production via Pixar's official Facebook page.