The Art of DreamWorks Animation by Ramin Zahed

The Art of DreamWorks Animation Reviews

• 
  Terri

  I read this slowly and enjoyed every minute of it. We are fans of animated movies so this book was perfect for my husband and I. My personal art favorites: "Shrek" and "Prince of Egypt."
• 
  Simon O'Brien

  Some brilliant and insightful interviews with the key people behind some of the best classic animated films. A weighty tome spanning two decades in great quality reproductions of concept art and production art alike.
• 
  τλιϓλ

  Didn't expect less from such company ^_^
• 
  Emily A

  I really feel this collection would have been better served by the omission of sequels. Even as someone who loves the Kung Fu Panda and HTTYD sequels and who is very glad to see them here....it's kind of sad watching a variety of beautiful, original content give way to a glut of same-y Madagascar and Shrek sequels. Especially so when the commentary says that one of the things separating Dreamworks from (implicitly) Disney is that their art direction is unique for each film. When they resort to dedicating an entire page and a half to zoom ins of four blue pencil sketches of a bear being motivated by picnic food....... it's just inherently a let down. I imagine that's somewhat like seeing the actual movie, which I haven't done.
  
  I'm also disappointed, personally, with no visual development for Eris, who was easily the most interesting visual aspect of Sinbad, a movie whose commentary sadly admits "didn't excite audiences", but was one of my favourites as a preteen.
  
  It's generally a lovely book, and also provides a thought-provoking timeline of the development of CG animation. As a budding animation student, reading about the artistic impact of being able to use deformers instead of bones in Madagascar was particularly interesting.
  
  In my opinon, the weaknesses of many of the films in this book, particularly the latter half, are in the story, so it's nice to give some appreciation to some of the successes and points of interest in otherwise mediocre films. Except Turbo. Turbo is still awful.
• 
  Emma

  Beautiful works of art alongside key annotations about each production from the people involved. 4 stars only because I prefer art books with a little more insight and accompanying text about the development process and materials used. It would make a great coffee table addition to any animation fans home.
• 
  Marisó

  Simplemente perfecto. Me dio mil razones más para amar DreamWorks.
  El único defecto es que quisiera que fuera más largo, ¡quiero más!
• 
  laurie

  i love dreamworks
• 
  Art of the Film

  For photos/video of this book, please visit my blog:
  http://www.movieartbook.com/2015/04/r...
  
  Over the last two decades, Dreamworks Animation Studios has produced 30 films. In honor of the studios’ 20th Anniversary, they released The Art of Dreamworks Animation, which features over 300 pages of great artwork. By aggregating artwork from each of the Dreamworks Animation movies, this book serves as a nice collection of the Studio’s history.
  
  For me, the single most striking aspect of Dreamworks animated films are their colors. When you think of the King Fu Panda or Madagascar films, your mind automatically thinks of the appealing color palettes of these movies. This makes for a wonder art book, and fortunately the colors within the book are every bit as bold and vibrant as they are on screen.
  
  One of the virtues of the book is that the artwork is so diverse – there’s everything from early drawings and pencil sketches to polished character pieces. You really get a sense for how the design process progresses on films like these. Keep in mind that with animation, absolutely everything is created out of nothing. Even the simplest things that are taken for granted in live-action films have to be methodically designed in animation.
  
  Each of the films gets about a dozen or so pages. It’s worth noting that many of these films also have their own individual full-size art and making-of books, so if you’re interested in exploring a particular film then you might consider also picking up it’s separate companion book, which will include much more art and go more in-depth about the production.
  
  My personal favorites from an artwork perspective are Kung Fu Panda, Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon.
  
  In closing, I highly recommend The Art of Dreamworks Animation. The book is a really great value and would make an excellent gift for fans of movies, animation, or art in general.
  
  Full List of Films Represented:
  Antz
  The Prince of Egypt
  Road to El Dorado
  Chicken Run
  Shrek
  Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
  Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
  Shrek 2
  Shark Tale
  Madagascar
  Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
  Over the Hedge
  Flushed Away
  Shrek the Third
  Bee Movie
  Kung Fu Panda
  Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
  Monsters vs. Aliens
  How to Train Your Dragon
  Shrek Forever After
  Megamind
  Kung Fu Panda 2
  Puss in Boots
  Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
  Rise of the Guardians
  The Croods
  Turbo
  Mr. Peabody & Sherman
  How to Train Your Dragon 2
  Home
• 
  Malvika Jaswal

  This is a beautiful addition for any art lover anywhere in the world. Covering 20 years in a book that is not too cumbersome to hold is not an easy feat and the author has done a commendable job of restraining himself to just a few pages per movie. The full page prints with minimal write-ups is a wonderful idea. It allows one the opportunity to try and soak up the glory of the wonderful work done by artists who have worked on these movies. At times I feel the few pages to every movie are not fair, but at other times I realise that it will take me an entire lifetime to just try and assimilate the detail and thought and effort in these 'few' pages itself.
• 
  Ian

  Don't get me wrong, the art is great, but it's somehow...flat? Maybe my problem is how literal it is? No weird abstractions and dilutions, like Geefwee Boedoe's concept art for the early Pixar movies? Most of the artwork looks like non-CG frames from the movies.
  
  The text is kinda sad. There are vapid synopses of the movies' themes. There are quotes are either delusional about or defensive of the qualities of the movies. Reading it gives your soul a headache, which is a lot like watching most of their movies, so I guess it's apropos.
• 
  Artemis

  A great collection of the artwork of animated movies by DreamWorks Animation.
  
  You get to see the different type of art they use for different movies, though if you'd like something more in-depth or focused on a particular movie it's better to find the book where they just concentrate on the art of that movie.
• 
  Talia

  There were so many movies with the concept art beautifully incorporated with interesting facts about the design process. Loved it! Made me want to get the individual books for the movies I really like.
• 
  Jaimi Rachelle

  The only thing I can say is I wish it was bigger! I would've liked to see more sketches and character designs.