Coffee Table Books That Lift Your Spirits: The Art of UP
The Art of UP by Tim Hauser
You are only old once, so why don’t you have an adventure before you loose mobility and energy to do so. That is what Carl Fredricksen did, as he escaped with his flying home. The plot of Up is clearly as seen in the movie version, and what better way to relive the movie again than with reading The Art of UP. Though there are some differences in the book, even the behind the scenes program that they have on the DVD won’t get as in depth as this book did.
There are countless films out there; however there are always movies that can strike a cord within movie watchers. The Art of Up is a yearbook type closure book that is filled with many many many, did I say” many” too many times –but lovely pictures or drawings of characters, scene adaptations in various forms of mediums. In fact, there are more than 250 samples of concept art. It was a feast for the eyes to look through this book, if you appreciated the movie the way I did.
The author of this book includes many of the director’s own thoughts and stories on where or what inspiration did the animators draw from. There is the trip that 11 animators did take to go to South America for location research. There are also quotes that fill the pages of this book tastefully, and inspirationally.
Up animation is most similar to an early Pixar film, The Incredible’s animation. For this film, the animators did try to infuse the movie with feelings of whimsy. Whimsical is quite difficult to achieve as stated by the director, but the final movie product is what makes the project richer.
Key character analysis is also a feature of this book; there are many fun facts that can be appreciated by people who have watched this film, including background art stories for Ellie and Carl. The house is also treated as a character so you can imagine the work and research that went behind the scenes for the many scenes in this film.
The Art of Up can make a serious Pixar film lover or collector quite happy. This is also a book useful for art students wanting to see where certain patterns or experiences that can be gleamed if you want to read up on art direction. But like I said earlier, this is a book for any fan to remember this heartwarming movie of a senior going on an adventure in his flying home.
Linda Yau is a fan of Japanese culture, and various anime/manga titles. She writes for several other online publications as animemiz, and her main blog is at animemiz.com.