⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5

This gorgeous full color, coffee-table book sized art book dives into the details and the artistic process of Kiki's Delivery Service. This is one of my favorite films and having some of the stunning backgrounds and visuals, along with character development and sketches, is just a beautiful way to re-connect with the film. I highly recommend this or a similar one for your favorite Ghibli movie to really dive into the art that makes these films so special. ( )

For a book which I fully expected to be mostly pictures (in the form of sketches, cels, and character and scenery designs), this was far more technical than I predicted. A large portion of the book is dedicated to discussing the art of filming animation, and includes details about colour palettes (who knew that Ghibli pioneered the move towards more natural tones?), simulated camera movements, and storyboard development. I could have done without some of this narrative, but it is balanced relatively well by the chapters which includes the full screenplay (with thumbnail cels) and discussion of the original nove. I am definitely going to try to find the original story, since it looks very interesting and has won many awards! ( )