Book Review: “The Color of Pixar” Evokes a Range of Emotions

Hi everyone!

The Color of Pixar from Chronicle Books released this week, we received a review copy the day it came out. The official description of the book says:

Bold and beautiful, this volume presents hundreds of film stills from the Pixar archives in a glorious spectrum of color. Starting with bright white images and seamlessly flowing through the colors of the rainbow, it becomes crystal clear how each frame tells a story.

The book is a little smaller sizewise than I expected, though at 352 pages, there is a lot to look at – it isn’t small in length. When I first opened the book, I did a quick flip-through. This isn’t the best way to really enjoy The Color of Pixar in my opinion. There is no writing on the pages after the foreward by John Lasseter and introduction by Tia Kratter, who was a shader art director at Pixar for almost 20 years (she currently manages Pixar University art and film education classes). The Color of Pixar really is eye candy and the photos best enjoyed like looking at art in a museum.

In the foreward, Lasseter says that the frames in the book were meant to be seen in the blink of an eye, the 1/24th of a second that they appear on the screen. So instead of the blink of an eye, this allows the reader to enjoy one frame for as long he or she wants. And not every frame will be of interest to everybody. Pixar movies range from Toy Story to the upcoming Coco, and the book runs the full gamut – including Ratatouille (my favorite Pixar film), Inside Out, A Bug’s Life, the other two Toy Story films and more.

Recently we saw The Music of Pixar Live! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It really hit me during the show – featuring a variety of film clips with a live orchestra playing – how emotional most Pixar films are. Not that I didn’t know it, but I experienced those emotions in a new way. Each film resonates with an audience in a way that a lot of other movies may not. For example, the movie Up is romantic, at times very sad, and funny in other moments…it speaks to adults as well as kids but differently at the same time. Seeing the artwork from the film, like with a frame of Carl and Ellie during a picnic or just a photo frame of the so familiar house…it can recall an emotion from watching the movie.

The Color of Pixar is for those who really enjoy Pixar and artwork, because that is what this book offers in abundance. And at the price point, it is a nice volume.

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