The Art of Cars 2 is the official concept art book of the Pixar animated film Cars 2.

Cars 2 is a globetrotting, high-octane ride through the world of Lightning McQueen, his best friend Mater, and an international collection of completely new characters. The Art of Cars 2 follows the development of the second installment in the Cars series, from the first story concepts and the film-makers' worldwide research to the intricate "carified" details that make up the unique Cars 2 universe.

Featuring the behind-the-scenes concept art that went into the film's creation--including color scripts, storyboards, character studies, environmental art, sculpts, and more--as well as a forward by director and racecar-enthusiast John Lasseter, The Art of Cars 2 celebrates the art and intrigue of this amazing new Pixar film.

Publisher- Chronicle Books; First Edition
Hardcover- 160 pages
Item Weight- 2.61 pounds
Dimensions- 9.38 x 0.88 x 11.5 inches

"Another stellar addition to the long line of must own Pixar books...If you've loved the previous Art of books, you will certainly not be disappointed by the latest entry." - PixarTalk

If you liked The Art of Cars, there is a good chance you are going to enjoy The Art of Cars 2...maybe more. In the Introduction we are told, "In Cars 2 you're seeing a lot more of the other elements of that world. There are boats, and more planes and cranes." And this is reflected in the artwork. The book is about 160 pages and contains a nice spot varnish on the Cars logo on the dust jacket. The binding and printing is what you'd expect from Chronicle Publishers. The book is divided into the following chapters:

The Pacific Ocean
World Grand Prix
Tokyo
Spycraft
Paris
Porto Corsa
Roads Not Taken
London
Radiator Springs

This is a wonderful art book for the sequel of Cars. It's packed with sketches, storyboards, character designs, background drawings and also discarded concepts. There are plenty of new characters and a few bigger locations.

The visual contrast is quite huge, compared to  The Art of Cars , as the characters travel to different race tracks around the world. There's a noticeable lack of traditional medium art - lots of digital paint over set renders - but the digital art looks great too. The grayscale pencil digital sketches look nice and detailed.

The environment designs are beautiful and extremely scenic. Lightning McQueen will be racing in three different countries, namely Tokyo, London and Italy. There are additional places where they are traveling across.

It's really interesting to see familiar places getting transformed into a car-friendly world. Even the famous Notre Dame and Lourve are redesigned to take on some automobile motif. Races in Tokyo and London were adapted to the cities. A new city was created for the Italian track with finesse to match the amazing architecture. Discarded concepts include Germany's Black Forest, Prague, a port and other buildings.

The character designs are lovely. Other than cars, there are now also boats, cranes and planes. Lightning McQueen has a new cooler design, one of a lightning turning into a flame. Mater has several makeovers as well. There are a few spies, those cars with guns fitted under their hood or on the wheels. You'll also get to see some geisha, sumo cars and the iconic London bus. There are some lemon cars as well, the automotive anomalies who are the bad guys in the film.

The book is spoiler-free as it talks only about the characters and places designed.

Highly recommended for Pixar fans and collectors.

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