Animation fans should be alerted: two new artbooks will be released this summer from Abrams Publishing that cover the history of an Irish animation studio and a prolific artist from another one, respectively.
The first, The Art of Cartoon Saloon: 25 Years by Charles Solomon, will be released tomorrow. Cartoon Saloon is the award-winning studio responsible for The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, Puffin Rock, and Wolfwalkers, among others. The operation was founded in 1999 by Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey, and Paul Young in Kilkenny, Ireland, and….wait, if it was 1999, then they should actually be 27. Maybe the book is late? “Cartoon Saloon has garnered countless accolades for their stunning hand-drawn animation, including four Academy Award nominations,” says Abrams. “In this stunning art book, fans get a first hand look at the history of the animation studio and the characters that are so beloved worldwide.”
The other book is called Boisterous Beasts & Deadly Dragons: The Art of Nico Marlet, and it’s actually already out, having been released June 16. Nico Marlet is one of the artists behind the How to Train Your Dragon series, which has grown into one of Dreamworks’ flagship attractions. But he’s also worked on productions from all sorts of places: Ducktales, Balto, Monsters Inc., and Kung Fu Panda are just some. This book pulls together the art from his long and varied career and includes commentary from colleagues like Pete Docter, Dean DeBlois, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Bonnie Arnold.
Boisterous Beasts & Deadly Dragons: The Art of Nico Marlet is out now on Amazon and other markets; The Art of Cartoon Saloon: 25 Years will be released tomorrow, July 7.
