Speaking of spoilers, Disney put up a bunch of Toy Story 3 books for free online, including the junior novel and storybook. Try to resist!
disneydigitalbooks.com/
Just got word my copy has shipped from amazon. Coming by snail mail super saver though.That will teach me.
Oh, thanks a lot Disney! Maybe just a peek…
Edit: Never mind. It says you have to have a membership. 
Oh, well. I can wait another month (I hope)!
Just came home and found my copy of the book waiting for me. The only problem I have is, should I look or not?. It’s still 2 months from the release of the film here in the UK.I had this on a pre order for July,so it’s shipped earlier than I expected. Hmmmm…what to do.
I have the same problem as you, Theclaw. I mean, does it spoil the whole movie at the beggining of the book? If so, I’m not gonna look 
The table of contents has spoilers and so do some of the first pages. Don’t open it!
Well I tried but couldn’t stop myself from reading this book. I have the original ‘art of toy story’ which is a really wonderful book. This one however, manages to surpass the original in every way. Every toy story fan should own this book without doubt. Even if your just interested in animation in general, this book delivers.
I don’t know. Personally, I really like the fact that PIXAR decided to not try and hide anything from us in the book, and instead give us full coverage of every single plot point. I’ve received my copy, but I’m refusing to look at it and even gave it to my brother to hide from me. Then on when I see the film on opening day, I’ll take the book with me and immediately read it after I watch it. I think I can enjoy it more that way.
Also, at Bryko614, YES 20 days until the film! 
Just got the book for my birthday. It’s fantastic! They’ve really outdone themselves this time with this book. Chock full of fun information and designs. And the color script is magnificent. One of the best Pixar books, highly recommended.
Nice book. The writing of the book is not as good as usual, but there’s lots of nice artwork. The brilliant production designer, Bob Pauly, is well represented. His artwork is astonishing, and very inspiring. Apparently he was the first artist on the film, and the last off, and he was key in every aspect of the design of the film, from character and set design to color, texture, and lighting. Well done!
Bob Pauly is also the only artist at Pixar who’s worked on all three Toy Story films.
So I finally read this since TS3 is out. I may be misremembering the previous Art Of books but there seems to be so much more text in this one. There’s so many details about the development of the characters and story and it’s really dang great! It’s like being able to pick the brains of the Pixar crew and seeing how they’re thinking and modifying the film to make it the best they can. I hope the Art Of series delves deeper into that kinda thing while still showcasing the amazing concept art.
I wish there had been an art of Toy Story 2 book, but that wouldn’t have been possible given the shortened and madcap production schedule.
I still wonder what the original concept would have been there…as well as the original idea they held onto for TS3 until the story meeting in the cabin.
I love the fact that it details certain decisions, such as:
-
Lasseter’s choice of Unkrich to direct TS3 (the book gives a more detailed response than Unkrich probably could give me a month ago)
-
Why Bo Peep was no longer with the group
I don’t own the book.
[spoil]What’s it’s explanation of Bo not being in the group?[/spoil]
Directly from the book:
Sorry for the double post, but I found this interesting blog post from artist Nate Wragg on his work on TS3. It gives some more insight into some removed characters and the evolutions of their personality and design, and contains art that’s not in the art book.
What I find interesting in there is the robot, since they already had one for Andy in the first two films. He also referred to Stretch as being a “he” even though they had her voiced by Whoopi Goldberg.
Wow. It’s amazing that Sid originally wasn’t the garbage guy. Wonder if Eric von Detten approached Pixar and the story team just gave him that role, or if the role was decided a bit later than the design was made.
Maybe Stretch is still a he even if Whoopi voices him/her, but I think he just distanced himself of the movie after his work was over (he still calls Bookworm “The Librarian”, and doesn’t know that Sid is the Garbage Man, among other things).
My wild, uninformed guess about the Metal-Head Garbage Man: [spoil]They started out with just an anonymous head-banging garbage man, then someone said, hey, wouldn’t it be funny if it was SID!?[/spoil]
My wild, uninformed guess about Stretch: [spoil]When they were designing the octopus character, it was just generically designated a “he,” then Whoopi was later cast as the voice. Because she’s the voice, I presume Stretch is now a “she.”[/spoil]
By the by, I got the Art of TS3 book this week, and really like it. I feel like it does have a lot of text and interesting info.
No, you are right. Stretch is a she.
I forgot she’s referred as female in the official site description.