Above all, this is a monumental artistic feast of Pixar’s artwork from its first theatrical feature to the present.  It would have been interesting to have seen some of the pre-1993 artwork for Pixar’s early shorts like Tin Toy and Knick Knack.  But The Art of Pixar is full (and HEAVY!) enough as it is.  “Directors, in particular, like colorscripts.  For the first time in the production, they are able to see their entire film in color, in one place, on a single board.  […]  Colorscripts evolve in an organic manner as directors and production designers refine their thinking about a film.” (p. 11).  For the fans of these individual films, and students of modern animation in general, The Art of Pixar is a must-have book!

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Fred Patten has been a fan of animation since the first theatrical rerelease of Pinocchio (1945).  He co-founded the first American fan club for Japanese anime in 1977, and was awarded the Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award in 1980 for introducing anime to American fandom.  He began writing about anime for Animation World Magazine since its #5, August 1996.  A major stroke in 2005 sidelined him for several years, but now he is back. He can be reached at fredpatten@earthlink.net.