So, I picked up a box of The Art of Disney: The Renaissance and Beyond, and not one bit did I regret buying it.
The set is one of the postcard boxes Chronicle Books released to celebrate the art of Disney. They also have Disney: The Golden Age, which includes all the classics you love, and The Art of Pixar.
The set is definitely not a cheap find, especially for "just a stack of postcards". But if you're a big fan of Disney who loves collecting postcards, it's quite a purchase.
The box contains 100 postcards, featuring the concept art of ten select films from Disney's Renaissance Era to 2014, specifically Disney's Revival Era: The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Mulan (1998), The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Wreck It Ralph (2012), Frozen (2013), and Big Hero 6 (2014) - that's 10 postcards for each movie.
A postcard measures 9.5x14 cm and is nicely stiff, but unfortunately, not stiff enough to withstand harsh handling in the post. I have sent a couple of cards to some friends, and one of them got folded. It's a bummer, really, since that very postcard was one of my favourites in the set.
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| Truth be told, it's hard to let go of a card, never mind three, since every design's just too pretty to be given away! But then again, postcards are meant to be sent and not kept. So yeah, I posted my first batch of Disney postcards two weeks ago. I'm not good at writing messages, so I just drew some symbols from the film featured on the postcard and wrote a movie quote. |
Here are some of my other faves:
(Please note that these are pieces of concept art, meaning some of the illustrations may or may not resemble the characters, settings, and other elements of the film they're from.)
♥Andz
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| The Little Mermaid Kay Nielsen Coloured pencil |
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| Beauty and the Beast Mel Shaw Pastel |
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| Aladdin Jean Gillmore Black line and marker |
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| The Lion King Bob Smith Watercolour and coloured pencil |
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| Mulan Dean DeBloise Coloured pencil |
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| The Princess and the Frog Lorelay Bove Digital Print |
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| Tangled Victoria Ying Digital Print |
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| Wreck It Ralph Lorelay Bove Digital Print |
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| Frozen Claire Keane Digital Print |
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| Big Hero 6 Jin Kim Digital Print |
While the front of the postcard is a stunner in itself, the back is pretty, too, in all its simplicity. It has enough room to write (or draw) on, and Disney geeks will certainly love scanning through each postcard to check the label on the upper left corner, which carries the title and date of the movie in front of the card, the name of the concept artist, and the medium used to illustrate the image.
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| The back of a Disney postcard can't get Disnier than this! Simple yet classy! |
The only downside of the postcard set is that it lacks variety. Since its aim is to showcase "The Renaissance and Beyond", it would have been better if they included more films from Disney's Renaissance and Post-Renaissance, and not just pick a few from the Renaissance then skip to the Revival era.
I understand that you could include only so much for a box of 100 postcards, but if they limited and carefully selected the art pieces (just the best of the best) to be featured for each film, then it would've been possible to include a bit more movies.
Like, Hercules...
Or Pocahontas...
Or Tarzan, a.k.a. the film that ended the Renaissance era...
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| I've always admired Glen Keane, and couldn't thank him enough for illustrating the characters I grew up watching. |
Also, who wouldn't love to see some concept art from movies in the Post-Renaissance period like Atlantis: The Lost Empire?
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| When I was little, aside from wanting to be Mulan, I wanted to be Princess Kida. She kicks ass and she has Milo. #NerdsAreHot |
Or Treasure Planet?
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| Jim Hawkins is another childhood crush of mine. Finding out that he's voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt later in my teens, made me love him even more! Haha :D |
How about The Emperor's New Groove?
Or Lilo and Stitch?
Brother Bear?
And even Chicken Little?!
Oh well, despite that, I wish Chronicle Books would release more postcards for these visual treats, because the films deserve it. Moreover, the artists behind them deserve it.
*Note: I do not own any of the concept art pieces featured in this post. They all belong to Disney and are created by their respective artists.
