From the Land Beyond Beyond: The films of Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen (A Berkley Windhover book) Paperback – January 1, 1977

I ordered the book - paying a premium price for it - and it took quite awhile to arrive. Beyond that, the condition of the book was worse than I had been led to expect from the original description. I am not a book collector per se, so perhaps I didn't grasp the nuances of the description? In any event, I am only using this for reference/research, so it isn't necessary for me to return the book. If I WAS a collector, I would have sent it back.

I love any and every book video and article that has stop motion animation as its main topic of information. Especially When Ray and Willis are the main sources of all of the walls of information. To be fair credit must be given to other visual artists as well. Yet they openly give all artistic stimulation to Willis and Ray.

For those who love Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'brien this book is second only to Ray's Film Fantasy Scrapbook, and picks up on some ideas he left out.

I was very pleased with both the content and quality of the book I ordered. Also the service was excellent and very fast.

Ask any visual effects artist working in the bowels of Industrial Light & Magic who their childhood idols were, odds are that their most common replies would be Ray Harryhausen and Willis "Obie" O'Brien. The stop-motion creations of these cinema pioneers have sparked the imaginations of countless moviegoers, and provided imagery which serves as stunning landmarks in the history of filmmaking. From King Kong standing atop the Empire State Building, to the hulking Cyclops and scimitar-wielding skeleton of "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad", the cinematic creations of these two legendary artists have ingrained themselves into places of honor in our popular culture.</P>_From the Land Beyond Beyond_ is a splendid overview of the careers of these remarkable individuals, packed with photos and behind the scenes details on how Harryhausen and Obie brought these magical creatures to life. The book goes on to touch upon the early careers of some of the effects artists who were inspired by the Masters, who themselves have now gone on to occupy prominant positions in the industry. Together with _Ray Harryhausen's Film Fantasy Scrapbook_, this volume is an vital addition to the library of any fantasy film enthusiast.

Before the era of computer generated special effects, RayHarryhausen produced state of the art visuals using stopmotion animation. Harryhausen was the master of stop motionanimation. This book is a wonderful guide to all his films.Loaded with pictures and very informative. Highly recommended.