Product Description

This official illustrated tie-in book showcases over 400 spectacular images from DreamWorks Animation first feature film produced in digital 3-D technology.

The Art of Monsters vs. Aliens is a spectacular, full-color book celebrating DreamWorks Animation's first film using groundbreaking InTru(tm)3D that transports the world of stereoscopic animation to a bold new level. This lavishly illustrated volume features: more than 400 images of concept art, character design, and architectural plans * insider information about the creative process behind developing the story and the characters * descriptions of the animating, rigging, surfacing, and lighting processes; and creating an all-new 3D environment.

The original story reinvents the classic monster movie into an entertaining modern-day action comedy. The Art of Monsters vs. Aliens is a book for anyone who loves moviemaking, animation, art, and big blue gobs of superheroes.

The Story:
When California girl Susan Murphy is unexpectedly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall and is instantly labeled a "monster" named Ginormica. The military jumps into action, and she is captured and held in a secret government compound. The world learns that the military has been quietly rounding up other monsters over the years. This ragtag group consists of the brilliant but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link; the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B.; and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confinement time is cut short, however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country.

As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger (on a desperate order from The President), the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24959 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

About the Author
Linda Sunshine has written 30 books about the making of movies, including Dreamgirls, Catch Me If You Can, and Saving Private Ryan.

Customer Reviews

Lots of context and art makes for an enjoyable read
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R362JURR85DFLM This is a great art book filled with concept art, and the content is well written by Linda Sunshine.

The book is split into 5 parts, Character Design, Locations, Special F/X, The Making of Monsters vs Aliens and Out of the Picture.

The book starts off with an foreword by Stephan Colbert who voices President Hathaway. Just like many animation films, he coincidentally looks like the character he voices.

Every animation film has a specific technical or visual problem to solve. In this case, it was the tricky portrayal of size and scale. This is all in the introduction where the staff talks about this and other technical and story challenges to making the movie.

Under Character Design, we have concept sketches and digital paintings. Each character comes with writeup on how they come into being, from idea to how many times it has evolved as required by story. The characters featured are Susan aka Ginormica, Dr. Cockroach, The Missing Link, B.O.B, Insectosaurus, Gallaxahar and clones, Robots, President Hathaway, General W.R. Monger and other humans.

On Locations and Set. The art featured here shows how the set is caricatured to fit into the comedy. Everything is captioned to explain the rational. There are lots of interesting stuff to read and see. For example, there's one cross-section blueprint on the Area Fifty-Something, and just right outside the facility, there are people tunneling to China. And the humpback commercial airplane looks hilarious.

Part four addresses the more technical aspect of making the movie, like rigging, lighting and texturing. There are 12 pages in all, and I'll probably be getting the DVD when it eventually comes out for additional behind-the-scenes production process.

Finally, the book ends with a few unused concepts.

The beautiful illustrations are printed in low gloss thick paper, well bind in hardcover (with a dust jacket).

Linda Sunshine has done well by providing lots of context into the art and story, making this a very enjoyable book to read.

There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.

Good Movie...Amazing "Art of" Book!
If you love these "Art of" books this one is a must have. I have all of the Pixar art books and a few others and this one is one of the best! While I did like the movie, It doesn't hold a candle to the great Pixar line up of films, but it's art book is a great buy for a few reasons: (1) Huge, beautiful, full color, painted character designs. (2) Awesome retro monster movie posters introducing each character. (3) Tons and tons of concept scketches and ideas. (4) Great explainations of the characters and their developement. Basically, just a ton of cool stuff! Sometimes these books can tend to run kind of light with the material chosen to be included, but that's not the case here.

If you are an animator or you just love animated movies and the work that goes into them, you should seriously consider adding this book to your collection!

One of my Favs!
I would highly recommend this book. It is one "Art Of" book that I keep pulling off my shelf for inspiration.
Lots of character designs, backgrounds, and paintings. There is a nice balance of traditional media and digital on display.