Released November 2010
Page count: 160 pages
Size: 11” x 9”
The Art of Tangled
by Jeff Kurtti
Preface by John Lasseter
Foreword by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Published by Chronicle Books
Distributed by Raincoast (Canada)
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/
– Gift Idea –
(This is the first in a series of books profiled as gift ideas throughout the month of December. All will be marked with the green/red ‘Gift Idea’ tag.)
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The Art of Tangled Book Review By Erin V.
One week ago today, we reviewed the charming film Tangled. This is a short review of the great tie-in book, The Art of Tangled by Jeff Kurtti.
Tangled is the 50th animated Disney feature, and the filmmakers involved wanted to make a worthy film. Although the Rapunzel story had been talked about for years, the time had never been right before. In some ways, the classic fairy tale of Rapunzel is less known then some others, so I was glad to see the introduction to this book profile it so we can see a bit of the basis for the film. The finished project works well, making a fitting 50th film, as well as one that can easily stand with the other classics.
Besides talking about more technical aspects of the film’s production, The Art of Tangled also profiles the different evolutions of the main characters designs, as well as the architecture, and landscapes. Interestingly, we learn here that some of the character designs were only nailed after hearing versions of their songs as inspiration. After reading this book, the use of lighting to create atmosphere throughout the film, is also only given greater appreciation. I love getting to see the gorgeous colour scripts reprinted in these art collections. We also get to read about how shape choices were very important throughout all aspects of creating Rapunzel’s world.
One thing this book made me think about is, how the choice to do Tangled in CG is an interesting and very logical one. As much as I love 2D animation as well, one aspect of this story that made CG the right way to go (although harder to do in this area of animation) is Rapunzel’s hair. In CGI when the hair is assigned a team of animators (crucial with this amount, just like a character), although difficult to manage, we are able to see interaction of the individual strands, which cannot be achieved to the same level of detail in hand-drawn.
Like other ‘art of’ books published (mainly for animated films), this has text about the story development process as well as hundreds of full-colour photos of concept art for the film. It can be read in just a few sittings, because of this visual-centric nature. Although they make great gifts for any film lover, I think artists, (like myself), in particular will love these books. Oh, and just another note: if you’ve seen the film, (which I would recommend before reading this book), you will appreciate the perfect simple choice for the book’s image under the cover jacket. I loved Tangled and this book is the perfect tie-in.
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To find out more about the The Art of Tangled, or other books, visit Raincoast’s website here, or Chronicle’s The Art of Tangled page here.
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