To Infinity And Beyond: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios

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Upcoming
On Thursday and Friday I’ll be posting a two-part series with tips for beginning freelancers on how to bid out a project. Keep an eye out.

Now, on to today’s post….

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A new book has just been released: To Infinity and Beyond!: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios. It’s a deluxe 320-page book laying out the definitive history of Pixar, the studio that gave us such blockbusters as Toy Story 1 & 2, A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and Ratatouille. To date Pixar has yet to deliver a box office flop, a feat which few (if any) Hollywood studios have ever been able to achieve.

From the publisher:

In 1986, gifted animator John Lasseter, technology guru Ed Catmull, and visionary Steve Jobs founded Pixar Animation Studios. Their goal: create a computer animated feature, despite predictions that it could never be done. An unprecedented catalog of blockbuster films later, the studio is honoring its history in this deluxe volume. From its fledgling days under George Lucas to ten demanding years creating Toy Story to the merger with Disney, each milestone is vibrantly detailed. Interviews with Pixar directors, producers, animators, voice talent, and industry insiders, as well as concept art, storyboards, and snapshots illuminate a history that is both definitive and enthralling.

You can order copies from Amazon.com here.

Animation Lovers Rejoice!

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Today several new animated DVDs are hitting the store shelves. Time to add to your collections:

Pixar Short Films Collection – Volume 1. This looks super cool! 13 short films with audio commentary plus at least one behind-the-scenes featurette.

Ratatouille. Not nearly a good as The Incedibles, but a reasonably entertaining movie with stunning visuals. Unfortunately the DVD is light on special features. There apparently is no audio commentary, only deleted scenes with introductions by Brad Bird. There is also a documentary and two short films.

At one time there were reports that a 2-disc special edition of Disney/Pixar’s Cars would also be released today, but instead there is just a one-disc version for Blu-Ray.

Other DVD animated curiosities released today include Opus N’ Bill in a Wish for Wings That Work; Chuck Jones Collection (an ambiguous title–no Warner Brothers work here, just six little-known short films by Jones); and Beetle Bailey: The Complete Collection.

Also, don’t forget to check out Looney Tunes – Golden Collection, Volume Five, which was released last week.

Putting Life In Your Poses

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I recently purchased the special edition DVD of Disney’s Jungle Book. It is widely regarded as one of the all-time classics of animation. Not because of the story. The plot is so simple that the movie should be a total bore. The movie is revered because of the characters. They are so incredibly entertaining and delightful to watch that you can’t help but get caught up in the fun.

That is no small feat.Read More

Concept Sketches for “3-2-1 Penguins!”

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As I mentioned in Friday’s post, I’ve spent the last few months designing characters and props for the TV series 3-2-1 Penguins! which airs Saturday mornings on NBC. Last weekend the first episode I actually worked on (”Green-Eyed Monster”) was broadcast. My name was in the credits, which means that for two seconds on Saturday I was ignored by millions of people. Still, it was kinda cool.

(EDIT: I owe an apology to several of my friends and relatives who tried to watch the show but missed it. Turns out NBC’s Saturday morning schedule varies from city to city, even within the same time zone. Penguins airs at 10:30am in Minneapolis, 11:00am in Chicago, and Noon in Dallas. To make things worse the TV listings in Chicago, where I spent the weekend, listed the wrong time so I missed my own premiere. Back home my DVR was set to record it, so assuming the TV guide was correct I can still see it when I get home tonight. Anyway, thanks to everyone who tried to watch. It means a lot that you made the effort.)

Penguins was created by Big Idea, the company behind VeggieTales. Big Idea owns all of the concept art I created for the show, but they have graciously allowed me to post sketches on my blog after each episode airs.

The Green-Eyed Monster (pictured above) and the Sheep were based on some rough sketches provided by the director, the very talented Tod Carter. The rest I came up with largely on my own.

I’ll post more sketches from future episodes I’ve worked on after they air.

(All artwork is copyright © Big Idea. All rights reserved.)

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Shamelesss Plug

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3-2-1 Penguins!

I spent most of the summer and fall doing character design work for 3-2-1 Penguins!, a new animated series on NBC from the creators of VeggieTales. It’s a fun adventure comedy with lots of goofball humor.

The first episode I worked on, “The Green-Eyed Monster”, airs tomorrow morning on the peacock network (10:30am central time, check your local listings). The episode was directed by the very talented Tod Carter, and it was a privilege of working under him. For some characters Tod gave me a few rough sketches to build off of, the rest I did on my own. I also designed a few props.

I can’t post any artwork until after the episode airs, so look for a few sketches on Monday.

Stuff I Recommend

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I’m a huge collector of reference books. Among the dozens and dozens of books in my studio, there are a select few that I would highly recommend for any professional illustrator/character designer/animator to own. If you make your living drawing, this stuff can inspire you, boost your skills, maybe help advance your career or even increase your income. As part of my goal to make this blog a truly helpful resource for my readers, I’ve created a list on Amazon.com that organizes them under various headings. Categories include:

—Character Design
—Artist’s Reference
—Art Instruction
—Business/Freelancing
—Animation
—Color Guides (for artists like me who struggle with color)
—DVD
—Misc

A link to the list will be permanently displayed on the blog sidebar.

In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that if you buy something from my list, Amazon.com will toss a few coins my way. I’m certainly not going to get rich off of it, but maybe it will be enough to buy a few extra cans of Monster Low-Carb.

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While we’re on the subject, you may also have noticed the Tip Monkey that showed up on my sidebar a few days ago. I post new content every weekday primarily because I enjoy it. But it does take work. I want my blog to be a fun place, so no pressure. But if you visit regularly and if you’ve truly benefited from it, I certainly wouldn’t mind a small tip now and then. Either way, I’m grateful to have you reading.

Here endeth the sales pitch. Look for new, fun content again on Monday!