John Hopkins (4)

I fully expected to like this book almost as much as I loved the movie Shrek (a penultimate favourite of mine in the comedy genre), but unfortunately I finished it feeling a bit of disappointment. The author does a fantastic job of getting into the details of digital CGI animation and the challenges of using the medium for a full-length feature film, but these details also really bogged down any kind of celebration of the film in general as they overshadowed the humour, joy, and huge amount of creativity that went into the finished product. Expected topics like character development, story origins, and artwork (ie the most interesting parts of film books for general readers) were glossed over in favour of technical specifics and raw computer generated imagery. Sure, the fact that Shrek was one of the first films to really utilize CGI in a crucial way is important, but that doesn’t make for a very enjoyable read for fans of the film.… (more)