Here’s a shocker: “The Art of Hoppers” has great text.
Normally, the “art of” books thrive on preliminary sketches, character variations and signs that flash by too quickly when the film plays.
This one, however, lets director Daniel Chong talk about the various iterations “Hoppers” went through and how penguins might have been the big spring animation stars.
He admits the original script was “unproducible” and might have run more than three hours. So, he chopped the animal kingdom to cameos and found a more workable concept.
"The Art of Hoppers" offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the "Hoppers" movie.
The book then introduces characters the way they appear in the film — first, Mabel, the teenager who wonders what happened to her favorite glade, then the animals. To bridge the gap, “Art of Hoppers” shows what Mabel is like before she jumps into the body of a robot beaver. Her look twists and turns in those opening pages, then becomes the wild-haired advocate who morphs.
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The beaver comes with some drawing prompts and shows how she might look in a variety of situations. The “real” beavers result from a field trip taken by artists before the film started. Here, you get photos of the inspiration and insight into the creative process.
While this “art of” book still provides looks at places that aren’t documented in the film, it goes into detail on doors, streets and furniture. When Mabel takes her petition drive to the community, those artists get a chance to extend their reach. It’s fascinating — and could be a great starting point for another film. The science lab (where all the transformations happen) is stuffed with information, too.
Chong talks about how “hopping” works and how they settled on making it happen. “Yes, I did read the ‘Animorphs’ beaver book,” he says. “And, no, it did not help.”
Captions — placed on various drawings — and labels make it pop.
While crowns aren’t as varied as they seem in the film, they do appear (and convince you the shine is just a matter of making one side lighter than another).
As the book progresses, others get an opportunity to weigh in. Chong’s co-writer, Jesse Andrews, goes into the changes that often occur in a Pixar film.
“For every page of words that made it into the movie, I’ve written dozens of pages that didn’t,” Andrews says. “A word is kind of like a picture, but much easier to make.”
In “The Art of Hoppers,” he and others prove it’s essential to a great final product.
“The Art of Hoppers” is released by Chronicle Books.
