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A Century of Stop-Motion Animation: From Melies to Aardman
 
 
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A Century of Stop-Motion Animation: From Melies to Aardman [Hardcover]

Ray Harryhausen (Author), Tony Dalton (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)


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Book Description

September 30, 2008
A pioneer shares his memories and insights on the technique he defined



• Completes the best-selling trilogy that began with Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life (“Terrific!”—Publishers Weekly) and The Art of Ray Harryhausen (“Highly recommended.”—Library Journal)


• Never-before-published photos!


• Traces the history of stop-motion animation from the 1890s through Chicken Run and beyond



This lavishly illustrated tribute to the stop-motion animation—the technique behind special effects for more than half a century—traces the history of the genre through the eyes of the industry’s greatest pioneer. From crude model animations in the 1890s, through the first animated feature and into the computer age, Ray Harryhausen and his co-author, Tony Dalton, reveal the patience and ingenuity of animators and explain the development of the technology. The insights of Harryhausen, the pioneer whose name is indelibly linked with stop-motion, add a rich extra dimension to this history, packed with cinematic monsters, fantasy creatures, the imaginings of Tim Burton and Aardman, and much more. Never-before-published stills and photos of the artists at work, sketches and storyboards for projects both realized and abandoned, and a host of recently unearthed memorabilia make A Century of Stop-Motion Animation a must-have for all fans of animation and film.


Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ray Harryhausen is revered as the master of special effects in the pre-computer age. His timeless work includes Jason and the Argonauts and The Clash of the Titans. He received an honorary Oscar in 1992 and a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2003. Many know his name from the elegant restaurant Harryhausen’s in the animated movie Monsters Inc.. He lives in London.

Tony Dalton has known Harryhausen for more than thirty years. A film historian and writer, he runs his own archive research company. His previous book, also co-written with Harryhausen, is Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life. He also lives in London.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Watson-Guptill (September 30, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0823099806
  • ISBN-13: 978-0823099801
  • Product Dimensions: 10 x 0.9 x 11.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars the best stop-motion animation book ever, April 23, 2009
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This review is from: A Century of Stop-Motion Animation: From Melies to Aardman (Hardcover)
now i dont know how many books on stop-motion have been written but i cant believe that there is a more complete book on the subject.if you are a willys obrian/ray harryhausen fan you will find this book very informative.throw in the rest of the stop motion history and you have in this book a vertible whos-who on the subject.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book!, January 21, 2009
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John Doe (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Century of Stop-Motion Animation: From Melies to Aardman (Hardcover)
A Century of Stop-Motion Animation: From Melies to Aardman
This is an absolute must-have for stop-motion fans, and Harryhausen fans. If you know what this book is about, you'll be extremely glad you bought this! I'd give it more than 5 stars, if that was possible.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Overflowing With Information, June 15, 2011
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This review is from: A Century of Stop-Motion Animation: From Melies to Aardman (Hardcover)
This is a great book, and it has quickly become one of my favorite Amazon purchases ever.

Just about anything you've ever wondered about stop-motion animation is both talked about AND illustrated in this book.

There are seven chapters. After some introductions, the first chapter is an overview of what is stop-motion animation, drawing in detail on Harryhausen's examples. Then a chapter on the early pioneers. Then, of course, a long chapter on O'Brien. Then an almost-as-long chapter on Harryhausen. Then there are three concluding chapters, on contemporaries of O'Brien and Harryhausen, the next generation after them, and the contemporary world of stop-motion. There are two pages of footnotes that provide great details and some behind-the-scenes gossip.

Although I love this book, I only gave four stars because of just a few nit-picking issues. One, it really isn't a general history of the field, it is a review of the O'Brien and Harryhausen careers with "additional information" on everyone else. Two, there is SO MUCH information sometimes the pages are too full. Sometimes a page will have the narrative of the book, an extended quote from one of the people and also multiple captions for the many photographs and illustrations. Sometimes it took a little effort to sort out what I was reading. Three, this is a high-quality book, with heavy paper stock, but my edition contained three pages with typography smears. The smears didn't obscure any text, but they really seemed out of place since the overall quality of the book was so high.

I really recommend this book highly. I would have liked to have seen more about the contemporary world--the final chapter is the shortest--but there is so much here that I will be reading and re-reading this book for a long time. Great stuff.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
corpse bride, armatured model, animation table, model animation, lire action, clay maquette, matte line, test reel, other animators, aerial wires, miniature set, animated models
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
King Kong, David Allen, The Lost World, Jim Danforth, Phil Tippett, New York, Clash of the Titans, Planet of Dinosaurs, Mighty Joe Young, George Pal, One Million Years, Voyage of Sinbad, Jim Aupperle, Los Angeles, Gene Warren, Projects Unlimited, Marcel Delgado, Herbert Dawley, Doug Beswick, First National, Karel Zeman, Great God Porno, Peter Lord, Jurassic Park, Fay Wray
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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