Most of the time I really enjoy art books based on movies, but I found this one to be quite underwhelming.

The best part of any art book is seeing how the look and style of the artwork develops over time, but this book contained mostly finished versions of the characters and settings. The only two characters who were different from their final versions (and who the animators experimented with) are Mother Gothel and Flynn Rider. I noticed that the sketches that were drastically different than the final versions were from artists who weren't as involved in the final versions, which seems to imply that some effort to consult outside the regular art staff was made. I figured for sure that there would be lots of interesting early sketches of Rapunzel (she is the main character, and they could have done a million different ideas with her), but her looks are basically a combination of Ariel's and Cinderella's. Yes, this is a nod to the continuity of Disney style, but it's just too easy! I would have liked to see how far they pushed the character at the early stages, and some of the concepts that did not make it as influences for the final art direction, if only to prove that Disney (the company, not the artists) is capable of thinking outside the box. ( )