Book Review: The Ballad of Rango: The Art and Making of An Outlaw Film

I was enjoying the book when I felt something wrong. The pages came off the spine. Now, they are hanging by the threads that hold the pages together. I don't know if it's just my copy or the printing batch.

Anyway, if you're getting this book in Europe, it's distributed by Titan Books. Not sure about the binding quality for that. Prices are slightly different.

Luckily, the content is pretty good. The concept art are very beautiful. The artists really nailed the character designs. They look quirky and wacky, and have a great sense of personality, judging from their looks to posture to attire. The harsh desert environment sure is unkind to them. You can almost feel the dryness of their skin, or even sand in their hair. Most of them are designed by production designer Crash McCreery.

There aren't a lot environment art besides the towns and buildings. Other images included are some storyboards and film stills.

The film is made by Blind Wink Productions and Industrial Light & Magic. There's a good amount of commentary on the characters, design concepts and the experiences of working on a full length animation - a first for both the director Gore Verbinski's production studio and ILM.

The book is enjoyable to read with the great art and stories but the binding is a letdown.

The unfortunately binding

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