The computer-animated film Ice Age, which featured the voices of Ray Romano, Dennis Leary, and John Leguizamo, surprised everyone by becoming the first film released this year to pass the $100 million barrier.  Though the film performed solidly at the box office (and will undoubtedly do well on DVD), there was very little Ice Age merchandise around, perhaps because no one was sure how the film would do (other than the movie novel and a couple of children's books).  However the recently published Blue Sky: The Art of Computer Animation ($24.95 from Harry J. Abrams) should provide pop culture retailers with a solid opportunity to profit from the surprising success of Ice Age.  Author Peter Weisher provides an excellent history of Blue Sky Studios, one of the few east coast animation studios, and how the organization managed to go from providing animated sequences for Fight Club, Alien Resurrection, Joe's Apartment, and The Sopranos to creating a full fledged digitally animated feature.

 

With over 150 full color illustrations in its 88 pages, Blue Sky should have a strong appeal to animation fans because of the way in which it lays out and explains the computer animation process so the reader can see what a complicated process it is--how layer after layer is added to create the realistic effects of light and texture that Blue Sky studios does as well or better than anyone.  Animation fans may be divided on the whole question of computer animation versus cel animation, but even cel devotees can learn something from Blue Sky: The Art of Computer Animation that illustrates the strengths and potential of the computer animation process.