Amid Amidi - The Art of Pixar: The Complete Color Scripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation

Colorscript, Toy Story 3, Dice Tsutsumi, Digital, 2009

Copyright 2011 by Disney Enterprises, Inc./Pixar
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-0-8118-7963-7 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4521-4753-6 (epub, mobi)

Designed by Jacob T. Gardner
Colorscripts layout by Janis Reed

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by Amid Amidi

by Amid Amidi

Pixars first colorscript, LUXO JR., John Lasseter, Pastel, 1986

It takes years to make one of our films, and thousands of pieces of art: character sketches, concept paintings, environment layouts, and color and texture studies, to name just a few. This work is hardly ever seen onscreen, but its absolutely essential to finding our worlds and leading us to the characters and places, and even events, that you see in the finished film. Being able to work with beautiful art every day is a huge inspiration for me, so Im always excited when we have the chance to share it outside the studio.

One of the most important pieces of art produced for any film at Pixar is the colorscript. Colorscripts are always featured in the art of book for each movie, but often theres only room to show a piece or two. So Im very happy that this book has finally given us the chance to share all the colorscripts produced for the studios films, in their entirety.

I first learned what a colorscript was early on in the development of Toy Story. Ralph Eggleston, the production designer, had told me he was going to put one together, but I didnt know exactly what to expect when I stopped by his office to review it for the first time.

On his desk was a series of very small, postage-stamp-sized imageseach from a different scene in the storyall connected together, like a filmstrip of the movie. It was absolutely fascinating to see Woodys journey unfold in the colors of each image. They range from the warm, comforting light in the introduction to Andys room, to the darkness that sneaks into the film as Woodys jealousy takes over, to the night scenes showing Woody and Buzz fighting as they try to get back to Andys, and finally to the warmth of the Christmas lights we see when everyone is reunited at the end of the film.

Every single element in a film must support the emotional arc of the story, which is really the emotional journey of the main character, and Ive always felt that the two things that communicate the underlying emotion of a movie better than anything else are music and color. Because color is so charged with feeling and provokes such a strong response in an audience, it is one of the most powerful tools at a filmmakers disposal. The characters may be saying one thing, but if the color and lighting make the scene feel gloomy, or if the music is unsettling, the audience knows something else is going onthe characters dialogue cant be taken at face value. So the colorscript, which allows you to see the whole arc of a films color mood at a single glance, is essential in planning and refining the visual and emotional rhythm of a film to support its story. As a film-making tool, its indispensable.

Whats so wonderful, though, is that, because of the amazing skill of the artists who create them, the colorscripts for Pixars films are also works of art in their own right, just as inspiring as the more detailed visual development pieces that explore the look and feel of individual scenes and characters. Seeing the colorscripts collected alongside one another is a great way to get a sense of the remarkable range of styles among the studios production designers and art directors, who work with their directors to establish the visual tone and direction for the films, and with their teams of artists to develop those ideas and ultimately bring them to life.

Weve put together a selection of visual development art from our feature films to go with these colorscripts, featuring some of the most gorgeous as well as creatively influential pieces of art from each project. Taken all together, this compilation of colorscripts and specific explorationsarcs and momentsis a terrific collection, a sort of colorscript of some of the looks and talents that have helped shape Pixars films over the years. I hope youll enjoy it as much as I do.

JOHN LASSETER