It’s compact. It’s colorful. It’d make a great addition to any film fan’s library. It’s Mark Cotta Vaz’s great new book, “The Art of Finding Nemo” (Chronicle Books, April 2003).
Profusely illustrated in all manner of media (I.E. character studies done in pencil, storyboards done with magic marker, lighting tests done in pastel, inspirational charcoal sketches, etc.), this new Chronicles Book release does a great job of detailing all the behind-the-scenes artistry that goes into the creation of a new Pixar project.
Mind you, “The Art of Finding Nemo” isn’t just a collection of pretty pictures. Vaz (who — observant readers may recall — recently wrote another Disney-related book that JimHillMedia favorably reviewed, “The Invisible Art: The Legend of Movie Matte Painting”) makes sure that all these excellent illustrations are backed up by equally entertaining stories.
Toward this end, Vaz interviewed many of the Pixar veterans who were directly involved in the artistic development of “Finding Nemo.” These include John Lasseter, executive creative vice president at the studio; Andrew Stanton, writer and director of “Finding Nemo”; as well as folks like Bob Peterson, a veteran writer at the computer animation corporation (who’s probably best known to animation fans as the voice of Roz from Pixar’s previous hit, “Monsters, Inc.”)
Among the truly funny stories that Mark scores are Lasseter’s remembrance of Stanton’s initial pitch of the “Nemo” project. John recalls how Andrew gave this “incredible one-hour story pitch that was riveting, emotional, funny — a story about a father and son. It was just amazing and I was strapped to my seat. After the pitch, he said ‘John, what do you think?’ I said, ‘You had me at the word fish.'”
To hear Stanton tell the story, “Finding Nemo”‘s real origins date back to a trip he took to the park with his 5-year-old son, Ben. During that two block walk to the playground, Andrew was constantly riding herd on Ben, saying things like “‘Don’t touch that’ and ‘Be Careful’ and ‘Stay away from the curb — Cars!'” It was during this over-protective moment that Stanton had an epiphany:
“I suddenly became aware of what I was doing. I thought about the dilemma of being a parent and having protective instincts that can consume you and keep you from being the interactive parent (that) your child needs you to be. The premise I concluded with was ‘Fear denies a good father from being one.’ That conflict intrigued me and sparked the idea of making a story that focused on the parent, not the child.”
It’s insights like these that make Vaz’s latest book a must read for serious film fans. They reveal the real secret behind Pixar’s continued success in the feature animation field. The hours of effort that Lasseter, Stanton and Co. pour into perfecting the look and the storylines of their films.
One word of caution, though: Admittedly, Mark Cotta Vaz’s “The Art of Finding Nemo” is a great read. But anyone who even casually pages through this colorful volume will have many of this soon-to-be-released motion picture’s main plot points ruined for them. So — if you want to go into seeing “Finding Nemo” next month without having the story spoiled for you — you might want to hold off on picking up a copy of “The Art of Finding Nemo” (or at least reading it) ’til after May 30th.
Beyond that one minor reservation, I really can not say enough nice things about this new Chronicle Books release. Filled with hundreds of colorful images as well as dozens of great behind-the-scenes stories, “The Art of Finding Nemo” is a book that Disneyana fans, animation students as well as serious film students will love to add to their libraries.
So do yourself a favor and go find yourself a copy of “The Art of Finding Nemo” NOW!
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