The Art of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Earlier this year Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 charged into cinemas eager to reintroduce cinemagoers with the exploits of Flint Lockwood and his rag tag team of buddies. The sequel must be applauded and the way the concept was joyously and originally expanded upon almost delivered the same surprise that the first film did.
One of the best if not the best items of merchandise that accompanied the first film was an “art of” book which has become the standard for animated family feature films and this particular edition delighted with a surprise on every page, the artwork and concept of the film is displayed with perfect ingenuity so it was with great excitement that I received the book that accompanied the sequel The Art of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2.
The book starts with a tremendous colour script which is part of the hardback cover which folds out to reveal another section to the hardback expanding both the familiar vista on the front cover and the colour script itself if you’ve not seen the film I would avoid gorging your eyes on that piece of work as it is quite spoiler filled. When a little extra effort goes into the contraction of a book to display the work of artists like the extra cover it is appreciated and makes the book a nice item to hold.
The issue with production on a sequel is that the characters in the film are already established which may present a slight issue when displaying artwork of the characters; it may become samey or boring. However it is testament to the production itself that the character designers and artists on the film were able to explore in their individual styles and the book displays these nicely. It’s great seeing how the sleek and stylish Live Corp was designed or the dense food jungle that once was Swallow Falls. Another stand out area of creativity is the “Foodimals” sentient food shaped animals that populate the story. Ideas unexplored in the final film are displayed in the book such as the puntasticMelon Collies, Mahed Potatoads, Mangophers, Rattlesteaks and a B.L.T-Rex. The work of Craig Kellman, Andre Medina, Aaron Spurgeon and many others stands out in the book displaying their own style but controlled so it still fits nicely into production.
The additional characters such as the suave and manipulative Chester V and his friendly and cheerful Orangutan Barb get the full development treatment as we see the fascinating variations of their production. Chester V is particularly notable in this instance as he is very similar to real life individuals which really shows in the production work.
The book is a real treat for people who wish to see behind the scenes of a high concept animated sequel. The book is designed nicely displaying the films production artwork whilst including a sufficient amount of writing that details the ins and outs of this animation production.
You can listen to our Skwigly Animation Podcast interview with the directors of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 here
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