So much cool stuff in one book!

Art of Ray Harryhausen, The

Everything you could ever want to see from Harryhausens amazing collection!

Released: 2006
Author: Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton
Publisher: Billboard Books
Website: Billboard Books
Buy this book at Amazon

Probably the first monster I can recall being introduced to was Medusa while watching Clash of the Titans (1981) with my father as a kid. She scared the shit out of me, but I remember when we got a VCR watching her scene over and over. I was intrigued by how crazy she looked and glued to that movie. I also remember my father telling that I needed to see one of his favorites called The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) a film from when he was a kid. As video stores became more popular and cable TV shot into everyone’s homes I was lucky enough to get quite acquainted with Ray Harryhausen’s films, and he earned an instant fan.

Harryhausen is a master of the stop-motion and this book has more stuff in it than I could have ever imagined. He has released a few books in the past (An Animated Life, Film Fantasy Scrapbook) but nothing quite as detailed as this. The direction of this book runs exactly what the title says, The Art of Ray Harryhausen. This is basically an encyclopedia filled with pencil sketches, elaborate drawings of important scenes in the movies, story boards, detailed photos of the actual models, and even the bronzed statues to help preserve the originals from deteriorating through the years. So many pieces are involved it’s seriously amazing; Jason and the Argonauts (1963), all of the Sinbad series, Mysterious Island (1961), One Million Years BC (1966), and the list goes on. There is basically a lot included from every one of his films and he did a ton of movies.

I was like a little kid again looking through this book. In the forward done by Peter Jackson (Duh - but just in case: Lord of The Rings) he states that, “It’s so important not to grow up. I’ve come to appreciate how the lucky people stay young at heart.” I agree with him whole hearted. I felt like I was re living my childhood reading this book and I can honestly say that I am going to spend a weekend watching as many Haryhausen flicks as I can while going through the book at the same time. If you’re a fan of stop-motion animation, any of Harryhausens movies, or just interested in some classic stuff – go get this book. I bought it on Amazon $20 cheaper than I saw it at Borders for.

One of the best books I will ever own and I will be going through this constantly for years and years to come!

Buy this book or this guy will cop your balls off!