MY DISNEY ART BOOK COLLECTION

For as long as I can remember, I've been a huge fan of Disney. I remember drawing my favourite characters (very badly) as a child and even now, I love learning how to properly draw these characters. It wasn't until last year that I realised that 'Art of'' Disney books existed. These are books that show how the movies were visually developed. I love looking through the pages of these books and seeing how the characters started out and how they ended up with the final design. It's fascinating. I've been collecting the books for the past year and these are what I have so far.

THE ART OF 'BOLT'

What I loved most about this book is how the artists developed the cities that the characters visit. Bolt, Mittens and Rhino go on an epic cross-country road trip to get back to Los Angeles. Naturally, the characters and artists couldn't show every single city on the map. That would be insane and the movie would be a week long. So, they broke it down to a few states and cities and how to best show that's where they are. I particularly love the scenes in Las Vegas. I could actually make out the MGM Hotel in the background. They depicted the infamous Las Vegas Strip perfectly in the movie, with the iconic Bellagio Fountain. 

THE ART OF 'UP'

I loved seeing how the character designers used shapes to design the characters; Russell is round, Karl is square and hard angles, etc. I loved seeing how these characters developed from original conception sketches to final design. 

THE ART OF 'FROZEN' AND 'FROZEN II'

Of course, I had to have these books. I pre-ordered the book for Frozen II and I only bought 'Frozen' this month. I don't know why it took me so long to get the art book for the original movie. I love the digital sketches that Brittney Lee created for each movie. I love her work and I love seeing the concept art. I actually bought a duplicate copy of 'Frozen II' so that I can frame some of the concept sketches to have as inspiraton. 

THE ART OF 'ZOOTROPOLIS' (UK TITLE)  || THE ART OF 'MOANA' 

I love the visual development of both of these movies. Visually, the landscapes are stunning. In 'Zootropolis' (it's called that in the UK), my favourite part will always be the train journey Judy takes from Bunnyburrow to Zootropolis. I could watch that a thousand times and still find something new to admire about it. Likewise, with 'Moana', the landscapes are stunning. I watched some behind-the-scenes footage before seeing 'Moana'. I saw how a designer took a photograph of a clay model and turned it into Motunui. That's when I realised that tablets like the Wacom Cintiq existed. I loved reading how they used real places and cultures to create the look of 'Moana.' It was a very inspiring read. 

THE ART OF 'RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET'

I love the visual development of this movie and I wanted to see how the designers came up with the design of the movie. The book didn't quite have the visual development and concept art that I thought that it might have but I still loved it.

THE ART OF 'TANGLED'
This one had been on my wishlist for a while. It is the most recent addition to my collection. I love how this book covers the design of practically everything. I loved seeing how the designs developed for each character;  I particularly loved the early designs for Mother Gothel. The digital paintings for the kingdom of Corona are simply stunning. They make me want to paint again, and not just on my iPad. 

THE ART OF THE DISNEY GOLDEN BOOKS

Basically, with this book, I loved seeing how Disney book artists brought their style to Disney stories. I used to be one of those people that hated when the book artwork didn't match the movie artwork. Now, I love seeing Disney characters in different styles. 

THE ART OF DISNEY DRAGONS

Dragons. Disney dragons. What more could you want? The pages of this book show where they drew inspiration from for the designs of the multiple dragons that have graced Disney movies. 

And here are some that I want to add to my collection as soon as possible;

I especially want the Art of Coco for my collection. The visuals of this movie are simply stunning. I have an irrational fear of skeletons. I hate to see them movie. It really freaks me out so it took a lot for me to actually sit down and watch 'Coco'. I absolutely fell in love with this movie. I loved the visual development of it and the character designs. Mamá Imelda is undoubtedly my favourite character.

Honestly, there are dozens of 'The Art of' books that I would love to have in my possession. Alas, a lot of them are out-of-print and are being flogged online for extortionate amounts of money. *Heavy sigh* I'll just have to dream and hope that I'll find it in a thrift store.