The Art of Disney·Pixar's Soul Book

Wow, it's almost been four years since the release of Pixar's Soul and over four years since the release of  this beautiful companion book to the film hit shelves—The Art of Disney·Pixar's Soul by Chronicle Books! The photos featured in this post were taken way back then, over four years ago (they've just been sitting on my desktop), so it's about time I get this thing documented here on the blog. While I don't have the time these days for a full, detailed review like I used to do, I did want to share it here as part of my ever-expanding collection of Pixar "Art of" books! I will say, if you're a Pixar fan (especially if you really enjoy Soul) and/or a fan of animation in general, this book hits all the right notes. It's absolutely worth picking up—like these "Art of" always are!

Disney·Pixar Luca Little Golden Book—Review and a Look Inside!

Happy Luca release day everyone! In case somehow you weren't aware, Pixar's latest (and 24th) feature film—helmed by La Luna director, Enrico Casarosa—debuted today exclusively on Disney+! To celebrate here on the blog, tonight I wanted to share my review (and exclusive peek inside) of the Little Golden Book based on the film. If you've followed by blog for a while, you might know already that I'm a big fan of Pixar inspired Little Golden Books and look forward to/collect every release there is. I was really excited for this one since I felt the story and style of Luca would translate to this format especially well—and I was right! 

The story of Luca is quite simple when it comes down to it, so it was already a natural fit for a Little Golden Book adaptation. The director of the film intentionally wanted to give off a storybook vibe and so I guess you could say things have come full circle here. This book was once again brilliantly adapted here by Courtney Carbone (who did another fabulous job condensing and simplifying the film's main story points for little ones; just as she did with Onward and Soul), designed by Tony Fejeran and illustrated by the talented Francesca Risoldi. The art is honestly the main reason I love collecting and look forward to these books and it doesn't disappoint here. Risoldi's work fits in super well with all the previously released Little Golden Books. I just can't help but love the vintage flair that's always present with these! 

The first Little Golden Books were published back in 1942, so needless to say, this collection has really stood the test of time. Hundreds of titles later and it's still going strong! I love how even the modern Little Golden Books (like this one here) tap into the nostalgia of their old time publications and are still created in a similar, [now considered] "retro", fashion.

Now let's continue your exclusive sneak peek inside... don't worry, no spoilers here! I purposely only included a select few pages from scenes that were already featured in the film's trailers. 

This hardcover book is the standard Little Golden Book size of 8" tall x 6.5" wide, is 24 pages long and retails for $4.99. Original release date was May 4th, 2021. If you and/or your little ones at home enjoyed Luca like I did (SO very much), you'll certainly want to pick this up for your collection. It's perfection—sure to be a hit at story time! I picked mine up on Amazon (direct link below), but you can also find it at Barnes & Noble or where ever Little Golden Books are sold. It's also available digitally, but I'm all about hard copies.

What are your thoughts? Shout it all out down in the comments and hopefully we can get a conversation going. I'd love to hear your review as well.

Final note: You can explore my entire Pixar Little Golden Book collection HERE! There's one for every single Pixar film so far except A Bug's Life (I know, sad but true). Hopefully we'll get that one someday!

Disney·Pixar Maps: A Magical Atlas Of The Movies We Know And Love— A LOOK INSIDE!

Released late last summer, tonight I'm taking a look at this must-have book for Disney fans young and old —Disney Maps: A Magical Atlas of the Movies we Know and Love! I received this for this Christmas from my parents and have wanting to share it with you here ever since. Many of you I'm sure already either know about it or own in at this point, but if not, here you go and you're welcome! ;) You won't wanna miss it. 

I've always been pretty intrigued by maps and I especially enjoy maps of fictitious worlds. Even as a young kid, I would create my own maps sometimes when I would make my home movies; I essentially wanted to map out where all the action was taking place within the story/made-up world to help put things in perspective in my mind. This book combines that idea with Disney/Pixar worlds, so needless to say it was right up my alley! It does not disappoint and is worth the price for the AMAZING art alone.

Love that Pete Docter (one of my favorite Pixar directors) had the opportunity to write the book's Foreword! It's so well-written, definitely don't skip it as it's a great introduction.

Here are all the films represented/maps included in chronological order! Of course not every single Disney/Pixar animated film is featured here, but a solid 24 are. And who knows! Maybe we could see a Volume 2 with more.

Here's what you can expect to see inside; starting with the film that started all of this, Snow White!

The second half of the book is mostly made up of Pixar maps, which I was all about! Here I'll be focused on primarily showing many of those starting with Toy Story below. Enjoy your exclusive look inside!

Each film/map also has pages like these as well featuring a description of the movie, "moments to remember", fun facts and characters to look out for (almost like a "look & find" style book).

 

 

 And here's the back of the book...

Well there you go everyone! That should be enough to give you an idea whether you'd like to pick this up for your collection or not. Like I said, I highly suggest it (it truly is magical), but I can understand if it's not for you if some of your fave Disney/Pixar films aren't included here. If a second volume was made, which films would you like to see? Let me know down in the comments and stay tuned right here each week for more from my personal collection. 

Pick up Disney Maps using the affiliate link below on sale currently for just $18.49 (regular retail price is $24.99).

Soul: Little Golden Book Review

I've finally found the time to take a closer look at the Disney·Pixar Soul Little Golden Book—released October 20th, 2020 (a surprising two full months before the film hit Disney+)! Little Golden Books, like with many people, are a classic part of my childhood; so naturally when Pixar themed Little Golden books (based on the feature length and short films as well as some original stories) began to be published back in 2003 (Finding Nemo was the very first), I jumped right on the chance to collect them all. To this day, I still get super excited for each new release year after year. They're one of the most consistent additions to my collection—I can always count on a new Little Golden Book to coincide with the release of every new Pixar film these days and they're always so well done. This one is no exception.

Making a family animated film that explores deep themes such as death, your life's purpose and the meaning of one's existence is a big enough task on its own—as such, it must have been extremely difficult to streamline the story even further for a short children's book. The complex story of Soul was once again brilliantly adapted here by Courtney Carbone (who did another fabulous job condensing and simplifying the film's main story points for little ones; just as she did with Onward)), illustrated by the talented Nick Balian & Sophia Lin (amazing work you two), and designed by Tony Fejeran—so yah, almost the exact team as the Onward Little Golden Book. Usually they mix up the illustrators and writers with every new release, but it's really cool that these last two were done by essentially the same creators. The art is honestly the main reason I love collecting and look forward to these books and it doesn't disappoint here. I just can't help but love the vintage flair! 

The first Little Golden Books were published back in 1942, so needless to say, this collection has really stood the test of time. Hundreds of titles later and it's still going strong! I love how even the modern Little Golden Books (like this one here) tap into the nostalgia of their old time publications and are still created in a similar, [now considered] "retro", fashion.

Now let's continue your exclusive sneak peek inside... 

Illustrator Sophia Lin said in one of her recent Instagram posts, "I had the amazing opportunity last year to collaborate with the super talented Nick Balian on the Little Golden Book for the movie SOUL! Nick created all the clean layouts plus some initial color work and I got to stylize and paint the final look! l love the movie and it was such a blast to help illustrate this book!" It was fun reading some "behind the scenes" content, so thanks for sharing Sophia! 

This hardcover book is the standard Little Golden Book size of 8" tall x 6.5" wide, is 24 pages long and retails for $4.99. If you and/or your little ones at home enjoyed Soul like I did, you'll certainly want to pick this up for your collection. It's perfection—sure to be a hit at story time! I picked mine up on Amazon (direct link below), but you can also find it at Barnes & Noble or where ever Little Golden Books are sold. It's also available digitally, but I'm all about hard copies.

What are your thoughts? Shout it all out down in the comments and hopefully we can get a conversation going. I'd love to hear your review as well.

Final note: You can explore my entire Pixar Little Golden Book collection HERE! There's one for every single Pixar film so far except A Bug's Life (I know, sad but true). Hopefully we'll get that one someday!

Follow me on Instagram @danthepixarfan

Onward: Behold! The Majestic Unicorn (and Other Not-So-Magical Beings) Book Review

Behold! The Majestic Unicorn (and Other Not-So-Magical Beings) is a fun little Disney·Pixar Onward inspired book that holds true to one of the main themes of the film—that times have changed and that, while some things have stayed the same, "magic" has become something rare to be rediscovered.

Each spread features one of the film's many magical species; a page or two showing them and what they were like "before" (times of old) and then a page or two depicting them "now" (modern day). The creatures it touches on are: unicorns, elves, dragons, trolls, centaurs, merfolk, whispering trees, sprites and gnomes. This is not a long book or necessarily a storybook (a couple sentences per creature; 32 pages), but it's nicely/simply written with a touch of sarcasm (no author is attached) and with some really cute and colorful illustrations by Pixar's own Jeff Pidgeon and the Disney Storybook Art Team. It makes for a nice and quick book to read at bedtime, especially if your little ones are captivated by the fantasy world of Onward.

This hardcover book is also smaller in size, measuring only 6.8" x 6.8". I really like that, but was surprised when I saw it in person! I just figured it was more of a standard book size.

Enjoy my exclusive peek inside below!

I really liked seeing one of the whispering trees here, a classic fantasy creature that never made it to the final cut of the film (but can be spotted in the Art of Onward book and in a deleted scene on the Blu-Ray). I think this is such a hilarious and clever idea—to have them as some kind of a supermarket associate stuck in the ground outside the store handing out flyers. I do wish there was a bit more world building/gags like this in the movie. The teaser trailer had some great moments like this that were also cut, such as the garden gnomes doing actual yardwork.

For young fans of Onward, I can totally recommend this book. For under 10 bucks on Amazon, you can't really go wrong here! If you're interested in snagging this for your collection, you can help support my site by purchasing it on Amazon using the affiliate link below. Be sure to leave your thoughts and any questions you might have down in the comments!

Disney·Pixar Bao Little Golden Book Review

Just released on July 28th from Random House Publishing, here we have Pixar's latest Little Golden Book—Bao, based the 2018 theatrical short film! This is only the fifth time (after Presto. Mater and the Ghost Light, Your Friend the Rat and Jack-Jack Attack) that a Pixar short has gotten the Little Golden Book treatment. More please!

Synopsis: In Bao, an aging Chinese mom suffering from empty nest syndrome gets another chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings springs to life as a lively, giggly dumpling boy. Mom excitedly welcomes this new bundle of joy into her life, but Dumpling starts growing up fast, and Mom comes to the bittersweet realization that nothing stays cute and small forever. This beautifully illustrated Little Golden Book retells the short film from Pixar Animation Studios and director Domee Shi, which explores the ups and downs of the parent-child relationship through the rich, colorful lens of the Chinese immigrant community in Canada.

This particular Little Golden Book was wonderfully Adapted by Aimee Murata, Illustrated by Sophie Li, Designed by Winnie Ho and based on the film's story directed/written by Domee Shi. It's hardcover, 25 pages long and retails for $4.99. 

What I really enjoyed while reading this for the first time is having words associated with what's happening in the story, since the film doesn't have any dialogue or exposition (not that the film needs that, it's perfect visual storytelling, but it was still interesting here). It also may help some younger kids understand things better if they were confused about certain aspects while watching the short. 

The illustrations are, once again, outstanding and really capture the classic and timeless Little Golden Book feel with a bit of that retro flair. Take an exclusive look inside below and see for yourself!

What are your thoughts? Anyone else out there as excited as I am about this release? Will you be adding this to your Disney/Pixar library? Shout it all out down in the comments and hopefully we can get a conversation going.

If you're interested, you can pick this up today at Barnes & Noble HERE or Amazon using the link below (available as a hard copy and as a digital book).