Saturday, February 5, 2011

Guillermo Del Toro

The new issue of the New Yorker magazine has a long feature on the movie director Guillermo Del Toro, with a description of his man cave that he calls "Bleak House," with a collection of fantasy art that rivals that of his hero Forrest Ackerman. 

 
On the walls beside him are eerie antique portraits by Travis Louie, who didn't seem to be credited. The article mentions the ups and downs of development work on New Line's Hobbit (which, alas, Del Toro didn't end up directing), his work on Frankenstein (with a mention of illustrator/concept artist Bernie Wrightson), and Del Toro's recent work on the Lovecraft story "At the Mountains of Madness" with concept artists Allen Williams, Peter Konig, Wayne Barlowe, Keith Thompson, and Guy Davis.
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Guillermo Del Toro on Wikipedia
Travis Louie's website 
Bernie Wrightson's website
Photo from Viva La Geek
New Yorker article excerpt at NewYorker.com
Huffington Post article with a video showing Del Toro's sketchbook process.

5 comments:

David Glenn said...

Did you know he was working on a remake of The Haunted Mansion? And did he enjoy meeting with you?

jamie said...

His commentary on "Pans Labyrinth" is one of the handful of truly insightful directorial perspectives out there that enhances one's appreciation of the film. The amount of detail and forethought that goes into his designwork left me even more impressed with an already incredible production: inspiring to have on in the background while working in the studio.

Sam G said...

Great article. I would love to see his journals. All the great sketches...man! "Pans Labyrinth" is one of my all time favorite films.

James Gurney said...

David, Yes, that project was mentioned in the article--sorry, I didn't meet him, but would love to sometime.

Jamie, yes, his commentaries are eloquent and articulate. I particularly like the special features interviews and making-of on Hellboy 2.

Sam, I agree. He keeps his creature concepts very simple and dreamlike, which works so well on film.

Gordon Napier said...

A few dragon-shaped fixtures and fittings would complete the look of that den.