Make a reservation now at Hotel Transylvania

If you’re as excited as we are here at Beyond the Marquee about the upcoming animated movie Hotel Transylvania which hits theaters today, then you’ll certainly want to pick up the companion book of The Art and Making of Hotel Transylvania. Titan Books has done it again, known for a wide range of titles from TV, Movies, Animation, Fiction, Graphic Novels and more…bustling with 160 pages, their most recent book on the art and making of the new film by Sony Pictures Animation (celebrating their 10th anniversary!), Hotel Transylvania does not disappoint. In fact, I might say it’s downright “scary” how packed this book is with great imagery. Click ahead for a peek inside the book and my review highlights…

I’m always blown away when my kids who are not even 5 yet, pull some reference out of the air of something they heard or saw, that I would never have imagined would have stuck in their minds. Upon unwrapping the book for The Art and Making of Hotel Transylvania, 2 of my daughters let out a squeal of delight upon seeing the cover. Suddenly my oldest (4 1/2 yrs old) was like…”Daddy, I wanted to see this movie!!!’, followed by “I want to see the picture of the girl (Dracula’s daughter)” and then her younger sister (3 yrs old)  inquired if we could color in it. Once I saw the kids were excited we sat down and looked thru the book together.

Behind-the-scenes with Director Genndy Tartakovsky on Sony Pictures’ animation HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA.

Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, The Clone Wars), the animation has a sense of familiarity about it, and you can clearly see in the countless pages of exploration, how some of the visual styles and reference from his past work, crept itself into the development of the re-imagining of everyone’s favorite classic monsters.

Samplings of some of the art found in the book

While most of the book (written by Tracey Miller-Zarneke) focusses on the characters, it’s truly amazing to see how an idea goes from concept to creation. And while at times some of the characters feel almost [Tim] Burton’esque, there is still a completely fun, loose style to these monsters all their own. The explorations from the various characters wardrobe, facial details, even the color-palettes are all displayed here for you to enjoy. Always interesting to watch the evolution of a film and see how various looks and concepts evolve and what ends up in the end on the screen, and this book explores many different looks on a number of characters. While in the end only one look wins out and makes it to the screen, you can’t help but imagine the frustration when a few solid designs actually are cool enough to stand on their own…leaving us to only wonder what was the deciding factor or argument in the development office that led to one look being locked for the film.

Samplings of some of the art found in the book

The last 1/4 of the book spotlights the Production Design, one of my favorite parts of the book. The digital matte paintings of the Hotel’s interior, the Transylvanian town, the Hotel cemetery, nearby ruins and more. Your respect for the animators and their painstaking attention to details, shadow and color schemes are evident here. Since this is a film which seems to be centered around a dark and dismal, creepy and distressed world, to try and keep it animated yet mysteriously fun, truly is a huge endeavor to overcome. And they did it.

I appreciated also the fact that spotlights on the details on the furniture and various interior decor also were not over-looked. It’s refreshing when you realize it’s not all one giant group of matte-paintings for the backgrounds but what feels like 3-dimensional rooms full of elements with a depth all their own.

Samplings of some of the art found in the book

As a dad, it was nice that the book was not heavy on text, though of course the insight and behind the scenes info on the art and production challenges are always an interesting read. But as a book I ended up spending an hour on my couch reading with my daughters, I was able to actually convey some of the notes and descriptions to my kids without them tuning out. Some parts needed a little extra explanation, but in the end my 4 1/2 year old energetically wanted to read it again the next day, and well my 3 year old still wanted to color in it (note to the editors at Titan, less black and white concept reference images in your next animation book because 3 year olds are VERY tempted to color them in) *laffs*

Thanks to the gang over at Titan Books for sending this to us for review, and we’ll have more book reviews from them coming soon to Beyond the Marquee!

Order your copy of The Art and Making of Hotel Transylvania today over at Amazon.com and check out  the wide selection of books available over at Titan Books.

ABOUT THE MOVIE

Hotel Transylvania is an upcoming American 3-D computer-animated comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation for Columbia Pictures and set to release on September 28, 2012. It is directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Michelle Murdocca. Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) is the owner and creator of Hotel Transylvania, a five-star resort where the world’s monsters can be safe from human civilization. Dracula invites some of the most famous monsters like Frankenstein’s Monster (Kevin James) and his wife Eunice (Fran Drescher), Murray the Mummy (Cee Lo Green), Wayne and Wanda Werewolf (Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon), Griffin the Invisible Man (David Spade), Bigfoot, The Blob, and other monsters to celebrate the 118th birthday of his daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez). When Hotel Transylvania is unexpectedly visited by an ordinary young traveler named Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg), Dracula must protect and rescue Mavis from falling in love with him before it’s too late