The Art of Ray Harryhausen (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Tony Dalton (Author), Peter Jackson (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Fantasy-film geeks revere Harryhausen's technically dazzling, meticulously crafted movies employing the painstaking technique of stop-motion animation. This coffee-table volume showcases the material Harryhausen discovered in his archives while researching Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life (2004). Harryhausen stresses that this book isn't as much about animation as about the previsualization that precedes making the models that will be filmed; accordingly, it focuses on sketches, key drawings, storyboards, and preliminary clay models rather than film stills. Thematic chapters cover Harryhausen's early work, including his stint with animation legend Willis O'Brien on the King Kong quasi sequel, Mighty Joe Young; dinosaur movies, such as One Million Years B.C.; sci-fi flicks such as the 1953 War of the Worlds; and the series of films portraying the adventures of Sinbad of, more or less, the Arabian Nights. Like O'Brien before him, Harryhausen hugely influenced younger filmmakers. In the introduction, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson says he grew up wanting to become Harryhausen's apprentice and notes that the animator's films "have lost none of their ability to provoke wonder." Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Harryhausen is a living legend with a dedicated following ranging from Hollywood heavyweights to fawning fanboys, all of whom will love this book and want it on their shelves. Make sure it's on yours." --Library Journal

 

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

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Product Details Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: Billboard Books; 1st edition (April 1, 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 0823084000 ISBN-13: 978-0823084005 Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 10 x 1 inches Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #388,625 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	77% buy the item featured on this page: The Art of Ray Harryhausen 4.8 out of 5 stars (13) $35.00
	8% buy Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life 4.9 out of 5 stars (16)
	6% buy The Winston Effect: The Art & History of Stan Winston Studio 4.5 out of 5 stars (20) $32.97
	5% buy A Century of Stop-Motion Animation: From Melies to Aardman 4.2 out of 5 stars (4) $31.50

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews 5 star:  (10) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing and incredible testament to a major fantastic filmmaker., March 22, 2006 By  Bob Eggleton "zillabob" (Providence, RI United States) - See all my reviews To start with, this book reproduces so many unseen and barely- glimpsed-before drawings and concepts, that one can spend hours looking at each one again and again. So it is rare are we are afforded this backstage look at the making of those wonderful stop motion films. Harryhausen's legacy is testamony to a time when films were made of this kind, and they not only took a long time of thinking and planning to make, but the result on screen was epic and, worth the wait. Nowadays fantasy film effects are churned out so ad nauseum thanks to CGI, that they simply lose their wonder-it's like we're used to it. I'm a big fan of *real* model work and real matte painting. You could touch it and it had presence, and those little nuances people fault it for now, are what give it it's character and style. Because of that, Harryhausen's legacy stands on it's own and will be remembered well past his lifetime. Remember, even up to his last film CLASH OF THE TITANS(1981) he worked largely out of a very small studio-one time it was his garage(!!)with one or two assistants and that was only on later,larger budgeted pictures. What does that say compared nowadays to $150M dollar + effects films!!!??? And though retired, we have Harryhausen now, still working away with his drawings ans sculptures into his 80's. A man who loves what he does.I can't recommend this book enough, save to say that the reproduction is excellent on all the art shown-pencil sketches, storyboards, charcoal drawings. It's so nice to see drawings as opposed to overrendered computer artwork of nowadays. Of note is the "Inspirations" part of the book where we see some of the artwork by others that inspired Ray to follow his muse. It says much about the man. 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful representation of Ray's talents, March 22, 2006 By  John Gentile (Hoboken, NJ) - See all my reviews Being a Harryhausen fanatic, I was bound to love this book. For those "not so compulsive" collectors who are wondering if the book is worth having after buying Ray's autobiography: I think you'll find the answer to be YES! The hardcover volume is attractive, with Ray's awesome charcoal drawings slightly tinted to give them extra flavor. Some of the drawings span 2 pages, so you can really enjoy the details. Most of the photos and artwork have never been seen before. I especially love the two page spread that shows the genesis of a creature, from charcoal drawing to animation armature. Terrific! Casual fans might find this overkill, but if you have all of Ray's stop motion films on DVD, this is a must. And the price is right! 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Outstanding!!!!!!!!!, April 19, 2006 By  D. Donovan, Editor/Sr. Reviewer "California B... (California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    While science fiction artist Ray Harryhausen's ART OF is intended as a companion to his prior autobiography AN ANIMATED LIFE, this succeeds well in standing alone as an outstanding focus on his movie art and his overall artwork. Source material for ART OF comes from Harryhausen's own archives, preserved in his London home and published here for the first time. Here are exquisite sketch and scene reproductions, storyboards, original art and models in black and white and color throughout. For avid Harryhausen fans - and there are many - ART OF RAY HARRYHAUSEN is a 'must'. Very highly recommended.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! Bought this as a gift for my friend and he LOVED it! Before handing it over, I flipped through it and the illustrations and photos were terrific. Read more Published 5 months ago by D. Benullo 5.0 out of 5 stars Great book Excellent addition to Harryhausen's "An Animated Life". Drawings,sketches,pictures...Recommended!! Published on June 20, 2007 by Henry Troll 5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have! If you're a fan of Ray and his films, or even just a fan of great movies in general, this is a must-have book. Read more Published on March 20, 2007 by Max 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Harryhausen book! I grew up with Harryhausen movies. This book captures my imagination like his animation did when I was a kid. I love it. Read more Published on February 6, 2007 by Tracy Latham 5.0 out of 5 stars I liked what I saw I don't feel qualified reviewing my purchase as it was a gift for a dear friend who has been a Harryhausen fan since he was twelve. Read more Published on November 4, 2006 by Erich Marie Von Zipperwax 4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good photos Much better than the first book. The first while good was to technical. We all love Ray Harryhausen for his visual work and this book shows it off beautifully. Read more Published on July 17, 2006 by Philip Giller 5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the Original! In Amazing Dyna-Mation and Technicolor!! As much as I loved "Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life" - and I did, I did! - I think that this second book tops it. Read more Published on April 10, 2006 by Dean C. Eaton 5.0 out of 5 stars SCI-FI MASTER OF THE CINEMATIC UNIVERSE As Peter Jackson points out in the introduction to this hefty tome, it's so important not to grow up. Read more Published on April 8, 2006 by Alan W. Petrucelli 5.0 out of 5 stars A LEGEND AND TRUE GENIUS! The word genius has become one of the most overused and improperly used words in our society, easily passed out to those who are often undeserving. Read more Published on March 27, 2006 by Tim Janson 4.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive look at Ray Harryhausen as a complete artist and filmmaker. In his comprehensive 2004 autobiography AN ANIMATED LIFE, stop-motion animation grandmaster Ray Harryhausen finally gave his admirers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life behind... Read more Published on March 15, 2006 by Tzoner Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Billboard Books; 1st edition (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823084000
• ISBN-13: 978-0823084005
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 10 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #388,625 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing and incredible testament to a major fantastic filmmaker., March 22, 2006

By	Bob Eggleton "zillabob" (Providence, RI United States) - See all my reviews

To start with, this book reproduces so many unseen and barely- glimpsed-before drawings and concepts, that one can spend hours looking at each one again and again. So it is rare are we are afforded this backstage look at the making of those wonderful stop motion films. Harryhausen's legacy is testamony to a time when films were made of this kind, and they not only took a long time of thinking and planning to make, but the result on screen was epic and, worth the wait. Nowadays fantasy film effects are churned out so ad nauseum thanks to CGI, that they simply lose their wonder-it's like we're used to it. I'm a big fan of *real* model work and real matte painting. You could touch it and it had presence, and those little nuances people fault it for now, are what give it it's character and style. Because of that, Harryhausen's legacy stands on it's own and will be remembered well past his lifetime. Remember, even up to his last film CLASH OF THE TITANS(1981) he worked largely out of a very small studio-one time it was his garage(!!)with one or two assistants and that was only on later,larger budgeted pictures. What does that say compared nowadays to $150M dollar + effects films!!!???

And though retired, we have Harryhausen now, still working away with his drawings ans sculptures into his 80's. A man who loves what he does.I can't recommend this book enough, save to say that the reproduction is excellent on all the art shown-pencil sketches, storyboards, charcoal drawings. It's so nice to see drawings as opposed to overrendered computer artwork of nowadays.

Of note is the "Inspirations" part of the book where we see some of the artwork by others that inspired Ray to follow his muse. It says much about the man.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful representation of Ray's talents, March 22, 2006

By	John Gentile (Hoboken, NJ) - See all my reviews

Being a Harryhausen fanatic, I was bound to love this book. For those "not so compulsive" collectors who are wondering if the book is worth having after buying Ray's autobiography: I think you'll find the answer to be YES!
The hardcover volume is attractive, with Ray's awesome charcoal drawings slightly tinted to give them extra flavor. Some of the drawings span 2 pages, so you can really enjoy the details. Most of the photos and artwork have never been seen before. I especially love the two page spread that shows the genesis of a creature, from charcoal drawing to animation armature. Terrific!
Casual fans might find this overkill, but if you have all of Ray's stop motion films on DVD, this is a must. And the price is right!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Outstanding!!!!!!!!!, April 19, 2006

By	D. Donovan, Editor/Sr. Reviewer "California B... (California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

While science fiction artist Ray Harryhausen's ART OF is intended as a companion to his prior autobiography AN ANIMATED LIFE, this succeeds well in standing alone as an outstanding focus on his movie art and his overall artwork. Source material for ART OF comes from Harryhausen's own archives, preserved in his London home and published here for the first time. Here are exquisite sketch and scene reproductions, storyboards, original art and models in black and white and color throughout. For avid Harryhausen fans - and there are many - ART OF RAY HARRYHAUSEN is a 'must'. Very highly recommended.