The Art Of Wolf Walkers by Charles Solomon (book review).
Here’s one for the books, literally. The animated film ‘The Art Of Wolf Walkers’ was produced and animated in Ireland and a reminder that we still having working units on our side of the pond and not just supplementing other projects. It’s also another film about werewolves.
Even better, this book fills you in on everything from plot to characters so I have to be careful to not go spoiler. The story is a period piece, set in the 17th century, with the Puritons about. The art is stylised with only one picture, on page 86 by Tomm Moore showing realistic wolves. A reminder that these people aren’t purposely cartoonists although there are some similarities to some of the animation Tim Burton and others were involved in.
It’s also of note that the creative team note that they are doing a stylised piece of work. I did have thoughts to when it came to the characters being like some of the more simplified animation from yester-decades but the backgrounds should change that thought. Very highly detailed and they use the same kind of layering 2D effect that people first saw in the early Disney animated films. Think of those page stage games the older people amongst you used to play with only this time digitally.
I should point out that not all of the plot is detailed in this book so you’re not going to get too many spoilers. The target audience is really for those who want to see how a film is put together and there’s a lot more text and interviews with the creative team.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book but, in the end, I was happy I read it.
GF Willmetts
November 2020
(pub: Abrams Books, 2020. 220 page illustrated oblong hardback. Price: £30.00 (UK), $40.00 (US), $50.00 (CAN). ISBN: 978-1-4197-4805-9)
check out website: www.chroniclebooks.com