Author: Linda Sunshine
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Newmarket Press
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars
“The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2” follows in the path of “The Art of How to Train Your Dragon” and gives us tons of great concept sketches, preliminary drawings, architectural plans and digital showcases artwork that just shows how much work goes into a film like this. This book features more than 650 paintings, drawings, sketches, models, film stills, lighting studies, color keys, story boards, and photographs. Along the way, this book is also packed with commentary from all the principal filmmakers. There is also a great introduction by the writer/director Dean DeBlois and a foreword by Gerard Butler, the voice of Stoick. If you are a fan of the original film, then this is a must own for sure and will hold you off till the sequel comes out on June 13th!
Official Premise: The official illustrated tie-in to the second chapter of DreamWorks Animation’s critically acclaimed, Academy Award® nominated How to Train Your Dragon trilogy is based on the characters in Cressida Cowell’s bestselling series. How does a movie of such imagination and magnitude come into creation? This celebratory edition leads Berkian aficionados through the journey: the story all begins with an incredibly talented team of artists, writers, engineers, animators, modelers, and tech wizards letting their creativity soar. Movie-goers will attest that the result is a stunning, original vision—bigger, better, and fiercer than ever—of an earth-shattering, fire-breathing sequel to the legendary story of Vikings and dragons in the frozen north.
Author Linda Sunshine had authored many making-of books for films ranging from “Schindler’s List”, “Monsters vs. Aliens”, “Catch Me If You Can”, “E.T.” and “Saving Private Ryan”. She really succeeded in deliver a book that makes you want to run out and see this film immediately. Newmarket Press brings us yet another fine release. The images are so crisp and the colors are literally jumping off the pages. I honestly don’t know what it is about “How to Train Your Dragon” but it has this certain magic to it. I can’t explain it but when you watch the film and admire the animation, you are just left speechless. Well, this book really gets inside the sequel and packs that same type of magic. June 13th cannot come any sooner!