Book Review: Ray Harryhausen's Fantasy Scrapbook: Models, Artwork and Memories from 65 Years of Filmmaking

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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.

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

Highly recommended for film buffs.

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This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook or visit their website.

Ray Harryhausen's Fantasy Scrapbook: Models, Artwork and Memories from 65 Years of Filmmaking is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

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This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook or visit their website.

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6 Comments

YES, THE BOOK IS VERY NICE TO

YES, THE BOOK IS VERY NICE TO LOOK AT AND CONTAINS SOME WONDERFUL NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PHOTOS, BUT IT, LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE TONY DALTON HAS DONE ABOUT RAY HARRYHAUSEN, STILL CONTAINS ERRORS IN THE RELEASE DATES OF 'THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS' (1953, NOT 1952 AS NOTED IN THE BOOK), 'THE THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER' (1960, NOT 1959) AND THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1974, NOT 1973---THE FILM HAD ITS SPECIAL PREMIERE IN LONDON IN LATE DECEMBER 1973, BUT COLUMBIA PICTURES RELEASED THE FILM WORLDWIDE IN 1974, AS ALL POSTERS AND PHOTOS FOR THE FILM CLEARLY INDICATE. IF BOOKS ABOUT HARRYHAUSEN CONTINUE TO HAVE INCORRECT INFORMATION IN THEM, RAY'S LEGACY WILL BE FOREVER MUDDLED.

I'D LOVE TO POST A REVIEW ON

I'D LOVE TO POST A REVIEW ON AMAZON AND GOODREADS.COM, BUT I'VE HEARD FROM PEOPLE WHO KNOW TONY DALTON WHO SAY THAT HE TENDS TO BE A BIT 'PRICKLY' ABOUT CRITICISM OF HIS WORK, PARTICULARLY WHEN OBVIOUS ERRORS ARE A FACTOR, AND I DON'T WANT TO OPEN UP AN UNNECESSARY CAN OF WORMS OR ANYTHING ELSE FOR THAT MATTER.

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