Film Fantasy Scrapbook

by Ray Harryhausen

Oversize tradepaperback

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Media Tie In, Film

142 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third edition was published in 1981 so it has 16 glossy color pages at the end which was a bit jolting after reading the rest of the book in black & white. I can understand why they inserted that sextion as it was after Clash of the Titans (a childhood favorite of mine) was released but before the awards season at the end of the year.

It was very interesting seeing so many pre-production sketches and photos, as was reading Harryhausen's descriptions of the behind the scenes politics and logistics of creating movies over several decades. This is well worth reading for anyone who is a fan of stop-motion animation. My only complaint is that sometimes the photo captions were a bit unclear.

[Trey Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight from one of the masters of monsters and animation. You can pour over the whole book or just quickly flip to see the cool photos

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures on my blog)

This is a delightful scrapbook style collection of stories, photos and artwork from the films that Ray Harryhausen has worked on.

Going through this book is like uncovering how a magician does his tricks. It's captivating to read about how he started out, working from small projects to the big screen. The first models he made were from wool, cloth and paper mache. What a humble beginning before going on to create cult classic films.

Stories of his film-making techniques and improvisation are fascinating. I've always wondered he animated models to interact with live action actors. That's in the book and it's actually called a split-screen process. Along the way, he has also invented a few ingenious camera tricks.

There are lots of photos and artworks included. The art include storyboards, and even drawings of armatures he designed and constructed. Some of the drawings are really detailed and drawn by Ray Harryhausen himself. He's a great artist.

The content is arranged according to themes. The first part is more on dinosaurs and creatures, the second on sci-fi, and last on mythologies.

Below's a list of films featured. I've excluded the animated shorts that are in the book.

Mighty Joe Young (1949)
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1952)
The Animal World (1956)
One Million Years B.C. (1966)
The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
War of the Worlds (1949)
The Elementals (1952)
It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955)
Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956)
20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
Mysterious Island (1961)
First Men in the Moon (1964)
People of the Mist (1983)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
The Satyr (1940)
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1959)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Force of the Trojans (1980)

There's commentary for everything and captions for all graphics included.

Highly recommended for film buffs.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must for any fans of animation and fans of the films of Ray Harryhausen in particular. Published in 2011, this 192 page hardcover book is presented in a scrapbook style collection of stories, photos and artwork from the film career of Ray Harryhausen.

With a foreward by director John Landis, and introduced by Ray himself, it takes a look at his film techniques and a behind the scenes look at Ray's film career, starting with the short films he worked on after being enraptured by the original 1933 'King Kong', all the way through his more well known films of 'The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad','Jason And The Argonauts', 'Clash Of The Titans' and more.

Featuring hundreds of b&w and colour photographs, drawings, concept art, sketches, production notes, movie posters and other memorabilia, with annotations accompanying the images and notes. If you're a fan of the films of Ray Harryhausen then I strongly recommend picking this up.

[Aussiescribbler Aussiescribbler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must for Ray Harryhausen fans. It contains a lot of rare drawings, photographs, script extracts, models, etc., from all of the films he worked on, as well as some material from projects which where never made. You'll learn a lot about how Harryhausen worked and gain a new appreciation for what he achieved. And there is plenty to get you wondering about what some of the films would have been like if different choices which were being considered had been followed and also what unmade films like The Elementals, Harryhausen's version of War of the Worlds or Force of the Trojans would have been like.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Akin to an incredibly well-curated museum exhibit about Ray Harryhausen's work. RIP Ray.

[Zach Klinefelter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic book about the master of stop-motion!