Inside Family Guy: An Illustrated History

by Frazier Moore

Overview

Foreword by Seth MacFarlane

On the twentieth anniversary of the seven-time Emmy Award-winning Fox animated television series comes Inside Family Guy: An Illustrated History, a fully illustrated, full-color visual guide honoring its reign—from storyboards to character sketches to script excerpts to cast and crew interviews—and giving fans exclusive access behind the scenes. This comprehensive guide is an essential collector’s item for the millions and millions of Family Guy fans around the world.

Featuring 240 pages of concept art, exclusive interviews with crew and cast members—including Seth MacFarlane, Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Alex Borstein, and Mike Henry—script excerpts, production notes, and countless insights on the making of the episodes as well as fan favorite characters Meg Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Glenn Quagmire, Brian Griffin, Lois Griffin, and Cleveland Brown, this is the ultimate guide to one of the most popular animated shows ever created.

Commentary from the crew will walk fans through every step of production, from conception meetings to the final print, detailing not only the artistic process but the history of its creation as well. Featuring storyboards, costume designs, reference photographs, immaculate background paintings and much more, the world of Family Guy and its memorable characters has never been revealed in such gorgeous detail before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062112521
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/14/2019
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 11.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Frazier Moore is a charter-member fan of Family Guy. During a quarter-century as Television Critic for The Associated Press he wrote frequently about the show and the creative team that brings the Griffins to life, reaching back to 1999 and the series' debut episode, which he greeted as "hilarious." Prior to the AP and enjoying Family Guy, Moore wrote for publications including The New York Times, Spy magazine, Interview, People and TV Guide, and was an arts and feature writer for The Atlanta Constitution.

Editorial Reviews

Inside Family Guy is truly the ultimate guide to one of the most popular and acclaimed animated shows ever made... an expertly written and curated one-of-a-kind keepsake for fans of the show.” — Animation World Network

“It’s a venerable treat, and one that shouldn’t be missed. For the animation student, it should be required reading that never leaves your bag.” — Bubble Blabber

From the Publisher

It’s a venerable treat, and one that shouldn’t be missed. For the animation student, it should be required reading that never leaves your bag.

Bubble Blabber

Inside Family Guy is truly the ultimate guide to one of the most popular and acclaimed animated shows ever made... an expertly written and curated one-of-a-kind keepsake for fans of the show.

Animation World Network

06/07/2019

This lavishly illustrated guide describes the long-running animated sitcom's production and legacy. Differentiating itself from The Simpsons, Family Guy, which began in 1999, is an edgier take on the American family, with surreal interludes and boundary-crossing humor. An entire chapter documents protests, lawsuits, and clashes with the network's Department of Standards and Practices. Still airing and with more than 300 episodes under its belt, the show had a rocky start, and Moore (former Associated Press television critic) recounts how DVD sales and the popularity of reruns on Cartoon Network convinced Fox to bring the series back from its quasi-cancellation. Seth MacFarlane is lauded as the prodigy behind the series, although the cast and crew are highlighted in extensive interviews. The strongest section of this art-focused coffee-table book is a breakdown of the 62-week process of getting a single episode from the writers room to the screen. Finished animation cels are accompanied by behind-the-scenes photographs, heavily annotated storyboards, and style guides (Brian's snout is always straight). VERDICT Moore is a die-hard fan, and it shows in this lovingly crafted book. Alert readers will notice the lack of textual criticism; however, Family Guy's fanbase will find this freakin' sweet.—Terry Bosky, Madison, WI

Library Journal

2019-04-20
More than everything you always wanted to know about Family Guy, in vivid color.

In this illustrated history, which includes all the sketches, storyboards, and character drawings readers will expect as well as a foreword from creator Seth MacFarlane, longtime TV writer Moore also goes deep into oral history, celebrating what he considers the visionary achievement of MacFarlane but also sharing the spotlight with the wealth of other contributing talent over the program's two-decade history. MacFarlane made history from the start as "the youngest executive producer in TV history" at the age of 24, with a fertile imagination and a voracious appetite for entertainment in general and TV in particular, which offset his lack of experience in sustaining a story or running a series. Back then, remember two Fox executives, he was "exuberant and goofy-looking, with Coke-bottle glasses and a Mr. Spock haircut….He wouldn't have looked out of place at Comic-Con." Though the series has long been compared with The Simpsons, which preceded it as an animated show focused on family dynamics, pushing the envelope with its subversive tone and spirit, Moore contends that "Family Guy is no Simpsons knockoff, as a few Simpsons loyalists insists. In fact, in some ways it's the mirror opposite," starting with the personality differences between the two protagonists. It received critical raves from the beginning, with the New York Times calling it "risky, rude, hilarious….Nothing is out of bounds as this series gleefully undermines family sitcom values." Yet the show barely survived into the new century, as it was scheduled against the blockbuster (at the time) Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, where it got clobbered and was cancelled. Or rather, put on hiatus, soon to resurface as part of the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim segment, where it reemerged as a cult favorite, enjoyed wider exposure on DVD, and returned to Fox by popular demand.

A coffee-table book that will reward any fan of the show.

Kirkus Reviews