The Art of DreamWorks Animation

by Ramin Zahed, DreamWorks, Jeffrey Katzenberg (Foreword)

Founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, DreamWorks Animation instantly became a world-renowned animation studio with blockbuster franchises including Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda. Though its earliest films, such as The Prince of Egypt, feature traditional hand-drawn cel animation, DreamWorks soon forayed into claymation with Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit, and pioneered advanced computer animation with films such as Antz, Shark Tale, and How to Train Your Dragon. Brimming with concept art, preproduction designs, and character sketches, DreamWorks Animation marks the studio's 20th anniversary and offers unprecedented behind-the-scenes access into its archives. An introduction by DreamWorks co-founder Katzenberg provides insider perspective on the studio's most popular films, as does running commentary from artists and directors on all of DreamWorks' 30 films to date.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Drawing, Film, Art Design, Fandom

324 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2014

About the author

Ramin Zahed is the Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angeles-based monthly publication, Animation magazine. He has been covering the animation and visual effects world for over 15 years. Before joining Animag, he was a senior editor at Daily variety. His articles have also appeared in Variety, Hollywood reporter, The Los Angeles times and The Christian science monitor.

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

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."

[Anthony McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This whopper of a book is a delight for film fans and especially those crazy on the world of animation pic.
Virtually the history of DreamWorks animation, it's a huge book covering the studio's output from 'Antz' through to 'Home' with hundreds of photos devoted to some thirty films with about ten to twelve pages devoted to each.
Stylishly designed with delightful imagery on every page and informative articles and comments from the artists involved in these unique creations.
The collection is also great for those who didn't want to purchase the individual books which were produced for some of these films.

[Simon O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't expect less from such company ^_^

[Emily A · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Luminary Stardust · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite art books!! Obviously because of the format, there’s only a few pages for each film, but it is still incredible to see the concept arts for these works!!! I was especially fascinated by the pages on the Bee Movie and the thought that went into the design of the hive

[Marisó · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[DMITR]

I think it s amazing book, need start read

[laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love dreamworks

[Miss Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating overview of the concept art for all of the Dreamworks animated feature films up to the date of publication.

[Art of the Film · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[✦ Viola ✦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning concept art and I love that this book is a compilation of all the DreamWorks films that have been released from the very beginning until now. I do wish that there has been a bit more text but I understand that the book is already thick enough and it would've been insanity trying to give us even more than there already was. And I do still prefer the mass of concept art we got over a mass of text, if I had to choose between the two.
My other complaint is that I wish the book had mentioned the names of the artists whose work was included so they could get recognition and I could do further research into them. I went on a Google deep dive trying to find the name of the artist of a Kung Fu Panda piece on page 160. I eventually found it (Bill Kaufmann) but I could've saved a lot of effort and energy if the name had already been there.

Otherwise a lovely book and a great addition to any art/animation fan's bookshelf.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I'm a Disney gal through and through, I still have a lot of love in my heart for many DreamWorks films and what they've done for the future of animation. I mean, without them we wouldn't have the masterpiece that is Prince of Egypt - a crown jewel in the realm of 2D animation. As a result, I appreciated this visual timeline of what they've achieved as a studio over the pats 20 years and really enjoyed learning more about what they experimented with on each of these films.

If I had my way, there would have been more BTS commentary on the actual making-of each film, since that's the really good stuff IMO. Sure, there were lots of storyboards, colour sheets, rough drafts, and some quotes from directors and whatnot, but I always love hearing from the broader team that worked on a film - not just one spokesperson. All in all, though, a great bedtime read that left me feeling inspired and excited to revisit some of these films in the future.

[Malvika Jaswal · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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