Harryhausen: The Lost Movies

Harryhausen: The Lost Movies is a book by John Walsh scheduled for publication in September 2019. It looks at the unmade films of Ray Harryhausen from a career spanning the 1940s to the 1990s.
Overview
John Walsh told the Islington Tribune in 2018 about the book, "for every film he made, there were three he didn’t, he was so incredibly prolific."
“Known for his iconic stop-motion animated creatures, Ray Harryhausen was a pioneer of Hollywood special effects for much of the 20th century. The films Ray was best known for include One Million Years B.C., Clash of the Titans, and Jason and the Argonauts. For each film that was produced, there were many never realised. Harryhausen: The Lost Movies explores these unmade movies, from unused ideas, other film projects Ray declined down and scenes from his own films that never made it to the screen. This book includes never-been-seen-before artwork, still photography and film test footage from the Harryhausen Foundation archives.”. A preview of the book's contents was presented at San Diego Comic-Con 2019.
John Walsh told revealed that Dalya Alberge of The Observer “there is so much unseen material for a project called the Force of the Trojans - from sketches, including a talking sphinx, to a screenplay - that there are plans to make a film based on its epic story of love and betrayal. John Walsh is one of the trustees of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation - the largest animation archive of its kind outside of the Walt Disney Studio, with an estimated 50,000 items.”
The Daily Telegraph reported that Walsh made various discoveries for the book:
“oil paintings depicting the German tale of Baron Munchhausen and test footage from his version of The War of the Worlds, both of which projects were unmade. Detailed scripts, storyboards and location photography reveal hundreds if not thousands of creative hours worked to no avail.”
Publication
It is scheduled for publication in September 2019 by Titan Books. To mark the launch of the book, Forbidden Planet scheduled a signing session at their London Megastore, before a 4K screening of Harryhausen's 1958 film The 7th Voyage of Sinbad at the nearby Regent Street Cinema.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu