Kung-Fu Panda-- the artbook!

I was pleasantly surprised by Kung Fu Panda: contrary to the ads, the film had a good story and was not just fat jokes and Black-goofing. The designs were good and the backgrounds gorgeous (worth seeing this in a theater just to get the full effect of the backgrounds). Story-wise, KFP reminded me a lot of Mulan (in terms of pacing and theme); the action is great, but owes a lot to " Kung Fu Hustle " (a LOT, actually...most of KFP's action looks lifted directly from KFH).

I was slightly disappointed that there were so few bad guys: the video game based on this film has ninja wolves, big cats, crocodiles, etc. In the film they only appear in the dream sequence and end credits (which are worth watching just for all the art they put behind the credits.

I bought the art book in hopes that early character concepts would be included and I wasn't disappointed! If ever there was a must-have book this year, The Art of Kung Fu Panda is that book! Oh, my ghod! Fantastic stuff!

As I suspected, there were a large number of characters/character designs in early drafts: sheep and goat villagers; a bunch of thugs , including gazelles, *wolves* and big cats ( ninja snow leopards!! ) in Tai Lung's gang (an evil army that was dropped); and of course, tons of pandas! (<--just for you, Jen!)

Although Tai-Lung's design was appropriate for the film, I'm agog over some of his early concept designs:



At the other end of the spectrum-- as if Tai-Lung's baby pics weren't cute enough:



And there's a lovely early design for Master Tigress

Amazon has the book on sale (with free shipping!), so go grab a copy!

Kung-Fu Panda-- the artbook!

I was pleasantly surprised by Kung Fu Panda: contrary to the ads, the film had a good story and was not just fat jokes and Black-goofing. The designs were good and the backgrounds gorgeous (worth seeing this in a theater just to get the full effect of the backgrounds). Story-wise, KFP reminded me a lot of Mulan (in terms of pacing and theme); the action is great, but owes a lot to " Kung Fu Hustle " (a LOT, actually...most of KFP's action looks lifted directly from KFH).

I was slightly disappointed that there were so few bad guys: the video game based on this film has ninja wolves, big cats, crocodiles, etc. In the film they only appear in the dream sequence and end credits (which are worth watching just for all the art they put behind the credits.

I bought the art book in hopes that early character concepts would be included and I wasn't disappointed! If ever there was a must-have book this year, The Art of Kung Fu Panda is that book! Oh, my ghod! Fantastic stuff!

As I suspected, there were a large number of characters/character designs in early drafts: sheep and goat villagers; a bunch of thugs , including gazelles, *wolves* and big cats ( ninja snow leopards!! ) in Tai Lung's gang (an evil army that was dropped); and of course, tons of pandas! (<--just for you, Jen!)

Although Tai-Lung's design was appropriate for the film, I'm agog over some of his early concept designs:



At the other end of the spectrum-- as if Tai-Lung's baby pics weren't cute enough:



And there's a lovely early design for Master Tigress

Amazon has the book on sale (with free shipping!), so go grab a copy!

Kung-Fu Panda-- the artbook!

I was pleasantly surprised by Kung Fu Panda: contrary to the ads, the film had a good story and was not just fat jokes and Black-goofing. The designs were good and the backgrounds gorgeous (worth seeing this in a theater just to get the full effect of the backgrounds). Story-wise, KFP reminded me a lot of Mulan (in terms of pacing and theme); the action is great, but owes a lot to " Kung Fu Hustle " (a LOT, actually...most of KFP's action looks lifted directly from KFH).

I was slightly disappointed that there were so few bad guys: the video game based on this film has ninja wolves, big cats, crocodiles, etc. In the film they only appear in the dream sequence and end credits (which are worth watching just for all the art they put behind the credits.

I bought the art book in hopes that early character concepts would be included and I wasn't disappointed! If ever there was a must-have book this year, The Art of Kung Fu Panda is that book! Oh, my ghod! Fantastic stuff!

As I suspected, there were a large number of characters/character designs in early drafts: sheep and goat villagers; a bunch of thugs , including gazelles, *wolves* and big cats ( ninja snow leopards!! ) in Tai Lung's gang (an evil army that was dropped); and of course, tons of pandas! (<--just for you, Jen!)

Although Tai-Lung's design was appropriate for the film, I'm agog over some of his early concept designs:



At the other end of the spectrum-- as if Tai-Lung's baby pics weren't cute enough:



And there's a lovely early design for Master Tigress

Amazon has the book on sale (with free shipping!), so go grab a copy!

Summertime

A post made to avoid house-cleaning...

Summer in Los Angeles can be summed up in one word: Hot. Add appropriate modifiers (really hot; f*ckin' hot; temperatureofthesun-hot). But hey-- it's only 101 today!



I gave the dogs frozen meat-bones and they happily took them and found a shady spot to lay in and nosh. Rondo got some hose time as well. Canine happiness is so easy to achieve-- it's times like this that I wish I was a dog-- more specifically, one of -my- dogs. Simple pleasures.



In the course of clearing* the hillside brush, I came across this pile of feathers . Not sure what they're from, but the former owner most likely was some coyote's dinner. Roz thinks egret. I would agree: too big for dove and too white for seagull.

Also a random picture of Roz's new *WAR* kittens!



Here’s the flicker set with the rest of the dog pics.

*no, not by me: hired some hardy souls to do it properly-- ie, by not having a heart-attack or heat-stroke after ten minutes of work.

Summertime

A post made to avoid house-cleaning...

Summer in Los Angeles can be summed up in one word: Hot. Add appropriate modifiers (really hot; f*ckin' hot; temperatureofthesun-hot). But hey-- it's only 101 today!



I gave the dogs frozen meat-bones and they happily took them and found a shady spot to lay in and nosh. Rondo got some hose time as well. Canine happiness is so easy to achieve-- it's times like this that I wish I was a dog-- more specifically, one of -my- dogs. Simple pleasures.



In the course of clearing* the hillside brush, I came across this pile of feathers . Not sure what they're from, but the former owner most likely was some coyote's dinner. Roz thinks egret. I would agree: too big for dove and too white for seagull.

Also a random picture of Roz's new *WAR* kittens!



Here’s the flicker set with the rest of the dog pics.

*no, not by me: hired some hardy souls to do it properly-- ie, by not having a heart-attack or heat-stroke after ten minutes of work.

Summertime

A post made to avoid house-cleaning...

Summer in Los Angeles can be summed up in one word: Hot. Add appropriate modifiers (really hot; f*ckin' hot; temperatureofthesun-hot). But hey-- it's only 101 today!



I gave the dogs frozen meat-bones and they happily took them and found a shady spot to lay in and nosh. Rondo got some hose time as well. Canine happiness is so easy to achieve-- it's times like this that I wish I was a dog-- more specifically, one of -my- dogs. Simple pleasures.



In the course of clearing* the hillside brush, I came across this pile of feathers . Not sure what they're from, but the former owner most likely was some coyote's dinner. Roz thinks egret. I would agree: too big for dove and too white for seagull.

Also a random picture of Roz's new *WAR* kittens!



Here’s the flicker set with the rest of the dog pics.

*no, not by me: hired some hardy souls to do it properly-- ie, by not having a heart-attack or heat-stroke after ten minutes of work.