Book review: To Infinity and Beyond

Submitted by  Teoh Yi Chie on  June 9, 2008 - 2:00 pm

To Infinity and Beyond

This book is stunning.

This is the latest collection to my Pixar art book. Almost immediately, I wrapped the book up to protect the cover from the elements. The bright green cover is made of cloth-like fabric and attracts dust easily. After picking it from my desk from photographing it, some parts of the cover had already became dirty!

Old school photos, high resolution renders, great writing filled the pages made of high quality paper stock.

It tells the history of Pixar animation studios before there was Pixar animation studios, all the way up to the Disney bought-over. It stops just right before Ratatouille or there would probably be more written on Brad Bird.

You'll find the true meaning of passion, determination. It's very motivating to know that there are people who respect and love their work so much. Just like any good stories — I learned from Brad Bird — there are obstacles and people have to overcome them. This book has a lot of interesting people stories to tell.

If you've owned other Pixar art books, you'll be pleased to note that there are quite a lot of new, never-been-printed photos in the book. It's really great that they included some art from the Toy Story and Bug's Life art books too, for they are out of print.

Here's the chapter list:

  • CHAPTER 1: Ed
  • CHAPTER 2: John
  • CHAPTER 3: Steve
  • CHAPTER 4: Pixar's Early Days
  • Spotlight: Sound
  • Spotlight: The Early Short Films
  • CHAPTER 5: Toy Story
  • Spotlight: Music
  • CHAPTER 6: Building a Studio
  • CHAPTER 7: A Bug's Life
  • Spotlight: "Geri's Game"
  • CHAPTER 8: Toy Story 2
  • Spotlight: Pixar University
  • CHAPTER 9: Pixar at Home
  • Spotlight: Voices
  • CHAPTER 10: Monsters, Inc.
  • Spotlight: "For the Birds"
  • CHAPTER 11: Finding Nemo
  • Spotlight: RenderMan
  • CHAPTER 12: The Incredibles
  • Spotlight: "Boundin"
  • CHAPTER 13: Cars
  • Spotlight: "One Man Band"
  • CHAPTER 14: Pixar Joins with Disney

To Infinity and Beyond is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | JP)

To Infinity and Beyond

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy from the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Chronicle Books edition:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.fr | Amazon.de | Amazon.co.jp

The Virgin Books edition:
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.co.jp

Tags
pixar
animation
art book reviews
chronicle books
karen paik
movie art books
pixar art books

Comments

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12 Aug 2009 - 08:46

I just ordered this book... I was kind of worried because it was a little outdated... Do you think it is still worth it? It looks great!

Teoh Yi Chie Wed, 12 Aug 2009 - 09:12

Well, if I don't have that book today, I will buy it again. It's really worth it. This is my favourite book of all my Pixar art books.

Diggeh (not verified) Tue, 30 Mar 2010 - 08:22

Hey Parka, I've been a long-time follower of your art book reviews. Could you perhaps list the Pixar artbooks/publications in order of your personal favorites (not counting To Infinity and Beyond, for I'm sure that's your number one regardless)?

Here's the sequential list to save you the hassle:

Toy Story: The Art and Making of... (1996; 2009 reprint)
A Bug's Life: The Art and Making of... (1998)
The Art of Monsters Inc. (2001)
The Art of Finding Nemo (2003)
The Art of The Incredibles (2004)
The Art of Cars (2006)
The Art of Ratatouille (2007)
The Art of WALL.E (2008)
The Art of Pixar Short Films (2009)
The Art of Up (2009)
Pixarpedia (2009)

I have a huge passion for these books and am trying to figure out which ones to shoot for next. I have TIaB! and The Art of Finding Nemo, and with The Art of Toy Story 3 coming out in May I'm going to need a new wallet!

Thanks,
Diggeh

P.S. I don't mean to reorder them on your blog, just to respond to my comment with your list. I'd really appreciate it if you ever get the time. :)

bele-xb7 (not verified) Mon, 06 Sep 2010 - 04:09

Hi! I want to ask you how many pages are dedicate to Toy Story and Toy Story 2. I think there aren't any book only about the art of Toy Story 2...so, if I want to buy this book "just" for Toy Story 1 & 2...do you think it worth it? o.o. thank you!

Krystal (not verified) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 - 05:27

I first saw this book at a group for Pixar/Disney where the authors signed the book and some storyboard artists from Ratatouille signed/doodled in it. It's such a good book that I own 3 copies in case one ever gets damaged showing people (especially since the cover is a fabric type material and can easily get stained). I believe there was a filmed released in conjunction with this book done by one of the ladies who collaborated on this book.

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