The Art of Monsters University
After a bit of a dip from the dizzying highs Pixars feature releases have recently experienced I must say Monsters University was an absolute please to see, the world was lovingly crafted and well put together with an ambitious and surprising story to match. It would appear that the studio is back on track.
By Alberto Lozano from The Art of Monsters University
So how was this accomplished so deftly? As ever the folks at Chronicle has released the answer in the shape of an Art of book in this case (as you may have guessed) The Art of Monsters University.
By Daniela Strijleva from The Art of Monsters University
As this film is a prequel the book showcases the films efforts to recreate the Monster world a decade or two before we met our pals Mike Wazowski and James P Sullivan in the first film Monsters Inc, so many of the artistic cues and direction has already been decided meaning that a large portion of the artwork isn’t as left field or too far away from the finished product there is however a pleasant level of freedom to the artwork as a satisfying range of techniques are displayed in the book. The lack of any real germination of completely original ideas is not a bad thing as the Pixar production process makes up for that missing aspect by concentrating creativity on solving problems such as making familiar characters look younger and making the world recognisable but older, some of these decisions are subtle such as the “door stations” which have been reverse engineered to belong to a different time to the first film.
By Ricky Nierva from The Art of Monsters University
As you would expect the artwork selected is superb and reminds the reader why Pixar have earned their place in animation history. The new characters in the film, notably the folk from Oozma Kappa and various other fraternities and teaching staff are explored in detail, with the restriction naturally given ti Mike and Sully lifted in their cases and the fresh pallet of ideas gags that make up the characters is great to see. Also great thought is put into the ageing process of the monsters as the artists at Pixar put in a great amount of effort figuring out how an eyeball named Mike could look 18 years old! A trickier task than it looks and something skilfully accomplished.
By Jennifer Chang and Shelly Wan from The Art of Monsters University
Having taken a closer look at the work put into the film it become clear that the Pixar touch is still alive and well and although evident in the film it is always a pleasure to take a glimpse at the intricate details and decisions that lead to the final flick. The Art of Monsters University is a book for anyone who wishes to know what it takes to explore characters and change everything an audience knows but keep the heart and soul in the right place.
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