Ray Harryhausen - Master of the Majicks

Volume 1: Beginnings and Endings

by Mike Hankin

Foreword by Tom Hanks

Preface by Sir Christopher Frayling



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Completed and off to the Printer!

Vol. 1 is now expected to ship in early Summer, 2013.


The printing process is finally getting underway. I will publish an update as soon as we have an exact delivery date. 

 

First off, I want to thank all those who have already pre-ordered the book— not only for the orders themselves, but for everyone's great patience during the postponement of publication. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I can see that I opened the door to pre-orders a bit early. But rest assured that all orders are securely logged in to our database and everything is in place.

 

New material kept coming in and work on the book never let up. I wanted to make every effort to include everything (or, to put it another way, I didn’t want to leave anything out). I also fine-tuned the layouts and photos as much as possible while I had the chance. Author Mike Hankin, Consulting Editor (and FXRH magazine co-publisher) Sam Calvin (CHFB’s own “FXRH”), Visual Effects Cinematographer Jim Aupperle, Kong experts James Mansfield and Tim Smyth, and others, all worked diligently over the past few months to contribute, proofread and otherwise prepare the book. All of this effort has made for a better book, and I am confident that everyone will be pleased with the results.


I also had to make a significant computer upgrade (hardware and software). The resulting new-and-improved system has increased productivity and creativity across the board and, among other things, allowed me to create a new trailer for Vol. 1.

 

What...? A trailer you say…?

Go to our (newly updated!) website at:

archive-editions.com

and you will be able to view:


• The new 5-1/2 minute preview trailer of Majicks Vol. 1, a photo-montage of many of the actual images from the book;

• A new slide show featuring even more photos (different from those in the trailer);

• A new Sample Layouts Gallery with 24 double-page spreads from the book, all different from the layouts previous posted.


The new software upgrade also made it possible to design much nicer (and longer) slideshows and Layout Galleries than we had before.


Majicks Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 are long sold out, and now command prices of $350 to $500 to over $700 per copy on eBay and Amazon. Pre-sales of Volume 1 have been good, but we haven't yet completely covered the upfront cost of printing. So if you're interested in ordering, or know of anyone who might like the book, now would be a great time to place your order. The print run of our limited edition Vol. 1 (the final volume in the set) is getting closer and closer to selling out.


Pre-orders are still available and your support now will not only guarantee your copy (or copies), but will directly contribute to the considerable up-front costs of printing and production.


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Written and produced over the past 10 years with Ray Harryhausen's cooperation and support, the complete 3-volume definitive 295,000-word career/biography Master of the Majicks features interviews with Ray and his colleagues. We published Volume 2 ("The American Films") first, then Volume 3 ("The British Films"), and are now wrapping up the set with Volume 1 (“Beginnings and Endings”).


Interview subjects and contributors to Volume 1 include: archivist/editor and Ray’s lifelong friend Forrest J Ackerman, Darlyne (Mrs. Willis) O’Brien, Lost World star Bessie Love, King Kong producer Merian C. Cooper and star Fay Wray, screenwriters Beverley Cross and Kenneth Kolb, animator and visual effects artist Jim Danforth, visual effects cinematographer Jim Aupperle, director John Landis, producer Arnold Kunert, animator/filmmaker Randall William Cook, and many others, some of whom have since passed away.


Chapters in Volume 1 extensively cover:

• Ray's Early 16mm Experiments;

• The Influence of Willis O'Brien and King Kong (this chapter is 90 pages by itself!)

• George Pal's Puppetoons®

• Ray's Film Work During World War II

• The Fairy Tale Short Subjects

• Ray's Retirement Years (including tributes, awards, convention appearances, colorizing his films, unfinished projects, the King Kong 50th Anniversary celebration at Grauman's Chinese Theater in 1983, Ray's cameo appearances in other films, Ray's Lifetime Achievement Oscar® from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Ray's "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and much more).


As a special supplement to the Willis O'Brien chapter, we're including the complete first draft of the King Kong screenplay by British mystery writer Edgar Wallace in its original screenplay format.


While not a textbook or tutorial, a special supplement called "How To Make a Monster" will take you step-by-step through the process of constructing stop motion models using photos from other stop motion films (Caveman, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Willis O'Brien’s films, and more) — from blueprint to armature to clay sculpture to plaster mold to final foam rubber animation model. (Now you'll know the answer when someone asks, "How did they DO that...?")


Plus

Ray Harryhausen's Los Angeles: A multi-page map of key locations connected to Ray and his films in the 1940s and 50s;

• Advertising art & posters from different countries;

• Reviews and story synopses;

• Filmographies of key cast and crew.


—And a few surprises…!


• 370 pages, 125,000 word text (chapters, filmographies, reviews, and more).

• Over 1,500 rare photographs, posters, technical diagrams and other illustrations —in Spectacular Color, Nostalgic Sepia-Tone, and Glorious Black-and-White— from numerous private collections, including considerable material that has never been seen in print before (including Ray Harryhausen's own books).


• Hardcover: dark brown imitation leather with title stamped in gold foil;

• Full color dust jacket;

• Heavy 70 pound semi-gloss paper stock;

• Overall dimensions 9" x 11-1/2" (22.86cm x 29.21cm);

• Weight: 5 pounds (2.75kg).


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From his Preface to Volume 3 —

"There is no way to overstate the importance of these books. [The Majicks books] are, simply, the most perfect books about Ray Harryhausen ever made. These are the books that you dreamt of having as a child and the only gateway, I guarantee you, to regain that long-gone thrill you had when you where eight years old and you cracked open the pages of the latest issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland. Perhaps more importantly, these books perform one true magic trick— one that we don’t experience often enough: they make you want to go out, immediately, and re-watch every single one of the the chronicled films and, if at all possible, go and shoot a film yourself. In summation: They make you fall in love with cinema all over again."

Guillermo del Toro, Director of Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth


From his combined review of Volumes 2 and 3 of Majicks:

“…it would seem that everything needing to be said on the subject must have been said at least once. Yet all it takes is reading a few paragraphs of Mike Hankin’s Ray Harryhausen — Master of the Majicks to feel the spark that once so memorably leaped from his subject’s fingers to breathe life into a gallery of unforgettable armatured creatures. … Hankin’s in-progress overview of Harryhausen’s career is unlikely to be surpassed; other books may offer different pictures, different vantages and depths of specific information, but the totality of Harryhausen’s achievement is best represented here.”

Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog #166