The Art of DreamWorks Animation: Celebrating 30 Years Hardcover – September 10, 2024

Wonderful art book with hundreds of colourful photos and best quality contents which you just can't miss!

The Art of DreamWorks Animation: Celebrating 30 Years is an anthology that showcases all the full-length animated films and TV series produced by DreamWorks over its three decades of storytelling and dream-making.★★★★☆ ArtThe book covers all 48 DreamWorks films, from Antz to The Wild Robot. The visuals are bold and vibrant, often spanning entire two-page spreads. Many are final production stills, but there’s also a solid mix of concept art and rough sketches.If you're wondering whether this book includes anything new—even if you already own the individual artbooks for specific films—the answer is yes! There are previously unpublished images scattered throughout. That said, many of them don’t offer much in terms of artistic value. The juiciest ones weren’t selected for focused, thematic artbooks, and it feels like those new included here mostly help sell this anniversary edition. So, if you're looking for detailed, high-quality artwork, you'd be better off sticking with the standalone artbooks rather than combing through this anthology.★★☆☆☆ TextIt took me nearly two months of slow reading to finish the text. The book includes commentary from directors, producers, designers, story artists, and other key creatives. For each film, you'll find two to five mini-interviews, where team members share their memories of the production process.Unfortunately, not one story or fact truly stood out or impressed me. The interviews tend to repeat the same talking points—about raising the bar high, pushing boundaries, and how passionate the team was (these phrases you’ll see over and over again). I found myself missing the kind of unique, behind-the-scenes insights you'd typically find in standalone artbooks—contributions from artists, narrative designers, or technical specialists. All those people who actually make these films legendary.With limited space, it's understandable that not every voice could be included. But most comments are focused on praising the production team’s efforts and the challenges they overcame (usually time constraints or the need to develop new animation tools).One thing that stood out—negatively—was the stark contrast between the detailed treatment of the films (5–15 pages each) and the skimpy coverage of the TV series. The shows are often summarized on a single page—or half a page—and sometimes only the title and a sentence or two are provided.It feels like the TV section was an afterthought. Some of the interviews even include outdated quotes where the speakers refer to upcoming releases that have long since premiered, suggesting the material wasn’t updated. Worse, one page (for Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight) contains duplicated text in both the main and quote sections. It gives the impression that the editors didn’t invest much care into this part of the book. And honestly, after two months of reading, I get it—it was presented as if no one would really bother reading it carefully. For a 30th-anniversary edition, that feels careless.★★★☆☆ Book DesignThis book is enormous. The listed weight on Amazon (2.31 pounds) is laughably inaccurate. The actual weight without the case is—wait for it—12.6 pounds (5.72 kg), and with the case, it's 13.9 pounds (6.31 kg). It’s the biggest and heaviest single book I’ve ever owned, maybe even held in my life.Is this giant size meant to impress, celebrate the anniversary, reflect the sheer volume of work done, or is it just marketing? Probably all of the above. But let me warn you: this is not a bathroom read. This is a sit-down-at-a-table-or-on-a-sofa kind of book. Reading it feels like a daily workout, complete with a lunch break.Design-wise, it’s solid. The layout is clean, the images are well-placed, and the text is generally easy to read—except for the unfortunate choice of printing some sections in light yellow, which is almost unreadable in the evening due to low contrast. The glossy pages look great but attract fingerprints no matter how clean your hands are.Another point to note: the book is fabric-covered. It attracts dust, threads, and pet hair instantly. If you own a fluffy animal, keep this book far away. A sticky roller will be your best friend.★★★☆☆ PriceThe current discounted price is around $91, which seems fair. I bought it in January 2025 for $112. In hindsight, I probably could’ve waited—prices seem to be dropping slowly.★★★☆☆ Overall ImpressionsThis book is an artifact. It could sit under glass in a library or animation museum. It makes a great gift for the DreamWorks executives who were interviewed for it. But does it have strong artistic or educational value? In my opinion, not really.It’s more of a collectible than a source of inspiration. While reading, I kept wondering what DreamWorks will do in the next 5 or 10 years. Re-release this with more pages? Create separate volumes—DreamWorks: Years 30–35, 35–40? Or maybe go the Disney route and produce a series like They Drew as They Pleased, with each volume covering a specific era? Who knows. I've watched review of The Art of DreamWorks Animation dedicated to the 20th anniversary, and it seems to be more reader-friendly to me.What I do know is that not every DreamWorks film has its own artbook—and those that do aren’t always easy or affordable to find. This volume brings all of the studio’s films together in one place, chronologically and comprehensively. If you’re a fan or just curious, it gives you a sweeping view of the company’s animated legacy in a single (very heavy) folio.It’s massive. You could use it for weight training =) But above all, it’s a tribute to a studio that gave us countless animated masterpieces. As you flip through its pages, you’ll discover unseen images and rediscover classics worth rewatching—films that still hold their magic today.P.S. The biggest question left? Where the heck do I store this thing?

This brings together the entirety of Dreamworks animation, both TV and movies, in a beautifully put together art book. Even had some previously unreleased images for dome of my favorite shows! Highly recommended for any lover of animation, especially Dreamworks.

This thing is heavy, about twice as large as a normal Dreamworks art book, and filled with gorgeous photos and artwork from various movies and tv shows.ProsLots of incredible artworks from several showsCons (ish)Extremely heavy and large, keep that in mind when putting it on a bookshelf/display.I do wish they showed more from each movie, it’s a minor complaint but many of the movies are only a page or two long, longest I’ve seen is five pages.

This is an absolutely stunning book filled with inspiring images, stories, and insight.With that in mind, I was absolutely crushed when I saw how much damage it had. It was just tossed in the shipping box with a bunch of other items so the slip cover and book took a beating….My advice - order this SEPARATE from anything else to avoid it being treated like mine was! Returning and reordering.

Es cierto que el libro anterior recopilatorio de DreamWorks era mejor que este. Este es demasiado grande (más de seis kg) y los bocetos podían haber sido más numerosos (poner más en cada hoja y no reproducciones tan grandes) y mejor seleccionados . Pero no es un mal libro, merece la pena tenerlo si eres coleccionista de estos libros de arte.