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The Art of the Book of Life
A tale packed with adventure, The Book of Life celebrates the power of friendship and family, and the courage to follow your dreams.
To determine whether the heart of humankind is pure and good, two godlike beings engage in an otherworldly wager during Mexico's annual Day of the Dead celebration. They tether two friends, Manolo and Joaquin, into vying for the heart of the beautiful and fiercely independent Maria, with comical and sometimes dangerous consequences.
This volume is an inspirational behind-the-scenes look at the making of the animated feature film The Book of Life, from visionary producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) and director Jorge R. Gutierrez (El The Adventures of Manny Rivera).
To determine whether the heart of humankind is pure and good, two godlike beings engage in an otherworldly wager during Mexico's annual Day of the Dead celebration. They tether two friends, Manolo and Joaquin, into vying for the heart of the beautiful and fiercely independent Maria, with comical and sometimes dangerous consequences.
This volume is an inspirational behind-the-scenes look at the making of the animated feature film The Book of Life, from visionary producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) and director Jorge R. Gutierrez (El The Adventures of Manny Rivera).
200 pages, Hardcover
First published September 16, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 18, 2021
The 'art of' book I've been dreaming of. An absolute delight to explore!
January 20, 2025
The Best "The Art of" Book!
Jorge Gutierrez invites us into a bright, vivid, and exceptional world that beautifully captures the essence of life, humility, and love—this time, from the production’s perspective. This book is truly a masterpiece, mirroring the brilliance of the movie itself!
It’s an absolute treat for fans of animation and storytelling, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process. As someone who adores the film, I can confidently say this is the perfect companion to my favorite animated movie ever!
Jorge Gutierrez invites us into a bright, vivid, and exceptional world that beautifully captures the essence of life, humility, and love—this time, from the production’s perspective. This book is truly a masterpiece, mirroring the brilliance of the movie itself!
It’s an absolute treat for fans of animation and storytelling, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process. As someone who adores the film, I can confidently say this is the perfect companion to my favorite animated movie ever!
December 28, 2014
My friend let me read this at work. Not much of an actual book. Mainly more showing the art and character concepts of the movie, I regret now I did not see this in theaters. I will have to buy it when it comes out on DVD. What a rich and colorful world.
January 16, 2017
I absolutely adore concept art books and this one is just fabulous. I usually don't mark them as read though because I haven't read all the littlee notes. This one is an exception. I sat down just to flip through and look at all the drawings and I ended up reading all the notes and captions. AND WOWZAH! They added so much information about the artistic choices they made and just how much thought went into every color choice, shape, and detail. I absolutely loved reading about all the small details I had never noticed when watching the movie (which is also stunning and artistically unique).
August 13, 2020
Such a beautiful book, my heart can't take it. The Book of Life is one of my favourite animation movies of all time and this book shows the amount of work, details and secrets that I didn't notice in the movie before.
Written by Jorge Gutierrez, the director of the movie, together with Paul Sullivan, I got the explore the depth of this story, its design, its colour, shapes and the brutal amount of thoughtful detail these cinematic team created to bring this extraordinary story to life.
I'm in love with this book and its beautiful illustrations. It made my day.
Written by Jorge Gutierrez, the director of the movie, together with Paul Sullivan, I got the explore the depth of this story, its design, its colour, shapes and the brutal amount of thoughtful detail these cinematic team created to bring this extraordinary story to life.
I'm in love with this book and its beautiful illustrations. It made my day.
November 19, 2021
This is an art book that I absolutely regret not searching for sooner to buy, because now it costs an arm and a leg to buy.
This is an art book that is such beautifully done with all of the colors and character concept work. My favorite is that throughout the book itself, you can tell that not much of the characters’ designs changed when transferring from pencil to movie screen. I also really enjoyed seeing that there was an acknowledgment page since I don’t recall seeing that in other art books.
This is an art book that is such beautifully done with all of the colors and character concept work. My favorite is that throughout the book itself, you can tell that not much of the characters’ designs changed when transferring from pencil to movie screen. I also really enjoyed seeing that there was an acknowledgment page since I don’t recall seeing that in other art books.
January 26, 2024
Breathtaking. Easily one of the best art books i've ever seen. I really appreciated that the book's notes and passages were actually written by the director Jorge Gutierrez so you got to hear his process instead of the same layman chapters that include "this is what a storyboard is..." that seem to be in every art book, and he specifically says that he doesn't like art books where the concept art looks nothing like the movie. This was clearly put together by someone who knows what a good art book should be.
October 14, 2025
I adore art books and Jorge R. Gutierrez is one of my favorite artists. The Book of Life is one of the most beautiful and creative animated movies I've seen and reading about the character design and world building (with gorgeous, full-color spreads and concept art) was super cool.
August 19, 2018
Beautiful! I loved the movie so this book was a great look behind the scenes.
October 14, 2020
Wonderfully robust book filled with gorgeous art and insight into the story and it’s design decisions.
July 6, 2022
Increíble el manejo de personajes, me gusto bastante , cada que puedo lo veo y leo de nuevo
July 2, 2023
Out of all the art books I've had the opportunity to read, this one is among the most comprehensive. As Gutierrez states, the goal here was to make it as close to the film as the final product ended up being. The character and environment design are the main focus, sacrificing a bit in other departments but delivering a great variety of characters.
November 30, 2017
The Art of the Book of Life - Jorge R. Gutierrez, Guillermo Del Toro (Foreword)
Rating : ★★★★★
The first artbook I purchased and still one of my favourites.
Rating : ★★★★★
The first artbook I purchased and still one of my favourites.
"The core belief of the [Day of the Dead] is so poetic and simple: as long as we remember those who have passed away, as long as we tell their stories, sing their songs, tell their jokes, cook their favorite meals, THEN they are with us, around us, and in our hearts. The moment we forget them, [...] then they are truly gone." - Introduction
"We gave each land its own shape and color association before we created more elaborate details." - Chapter Two: Making of
October 17, 2015
Best 'Art of' movie book ever! The illustrations are true to the movie (some of which are worthy of being framed & hung on the wall as art) and the insights reveal hidden gems that make me want to watch the movie again. Plus there is a reason behind every costume, color, and shape which makes the movie that much more enthralling. So much thought and care was put into every detail of this movie, which you can tell by watching it, but this book makes it even more impressive.
July 27, 2016
This is everything I look for in an "Art Of" book and so much more.
Not only do we get beautiful reproductions of the art created in the process of making the movie, we also get inside scoops on the why of things and the how of the production.
It's obvious from watching the movie that a lot of love was put into it, and the art book reflects that and expands on the whys and hows of it.
A must read if you like seeing the process an animated movie goes thru and if you liked the movie.
Not only do we get beautiful reproductions of the art created in the process of making the movie, we also get inside scoops on the why of things and the how of the production.
It's obvious from watching the movie that a lot of love was put into it, and the art book reflects that and expands on the whys and hows of it.
A must read if you like seeing the process an animated movie goes thru and if you liked the movie.
April 19, 2016
You can feel the love and care that went into every aspect of the movie by the way the creators talk about it and describe their inspiration. Every character, location, and design is deliberate and beautiful. I need to go watch the movie again to really appreciate everything that went into it.
February 18, 2016
Beautiful book!
March 2, 2015
I really enjoyed it a lot
full of pictures and information
glad that I bought it ^_^
full of pictures and information
glad that I bought it ^_^
March 11, 2015
The movie filled the screen with so much that it was difficult to take it all in. This gorgeous book allows us to see the beautiful details and the thought that was behind the film's creation.
January 23, 2018
I read this after watching the movie today. Not much text, mostly sketches, colour scripts, concept art, models, but it simply astounds me, how much work went into the making of this film.
October 13, 2016
I loved this book it really showed the amazing process of making animated movies. The art was very vivid and beautiful!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews