Imaginator is more like a book than a magazine: it is a journal-type publication that has a thick spine and boasts 116 pages crammed with colour photos, concept art and storyboards! It will look great on any bookshelf!

This issue is currently ONLY AVAILABLE to preorder via Monster Zone in the UK and in the EU.

The first 40 orders will come with an A4 poster created by Imaginator’s regular cover illustrator Zilla Man!

Imaginator issue 12 will become available in the USA and elsewhere late next month.

This Stop-Motion Special Edition is a joy to behold, just check out the mouthwatering contents…

FOREWORD
Alan Friswell, the official restorer for the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, ponders what is so magical and special about the art and technique of stop-motion animation.  

INTERVIEW WITH AN ARGONAUT
Gary Raymond, who played the villainous Acastus in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, recalls what it was like to star in this fantasy adventure classic!

YOU HAVE 20 SECONDS TO COMPLY…
Oscar-nominated FX genius Randal Dutra takes us all back to the time he animated rogue killer droid ED-209 in the iconic 1987 science fiction action masterpiece ROBOCOP!

THE PRIMEVALS – A CELEBRATION
A 40-page zone focusing on David Allen’s stop-motion sci-fi-adventure-fantasy film! This section is full of interviews, storyboards, promo art and photos! Check out what’s in store within this celebration zone..

DECADES IN THE MAKING
An overview of the long and winding journey that THE PRIMEVALS took to finally reach the screen! 

IN THE ARENA
Chris Endicott, whose credits include ROBOT WARS, DOCTOR MORDRID and AVENGERS: ENDGAME, talks about how he saved the dormant PRIMEVALS project from extinction and ensured that it got finished with the help of lots of creative colleagues!

A CONVERSATION WITH TOM ST. AMAND
Tom, the ‘King of the Armature Makers’, was a key member of the team that attempted to make THE PRIMEVALS way back in 1978, and now he casts his mind back to those 70s-tastic times.

THE PRIMEVALS PROMO ART
Lee MacLeod, the gifted artist who produced cool poster illustrations for such releases as HOWARD THE DUCK, BATMAN, and SUBSPECIES, describes the techniques he used for the superb PRIMEVALS artworks he created to help Charles Band generate international interest in the project.

JULIET MILLS – YETI HUNTER
Juliet Mills, the star of THE PRIMEVALS, chats about working with David Allen during the shooting of the principle photography in 1994.

I, HOMINID
An interview with Jeff Farley, who headed-up the PRIMEVALS makeup effects department. He also portrayed several of the mutated hominids in the film!

STORYBOARD ZONE
A talk with Peter William Von Sholly, a Hollywood storyboard artist who’s worked on over 100 movies, including VAMP (1986) and THE BLOB (1988). He recalls his time working on THE PRIMEVALS. Peter also looks back at PREHYSTERIA!, a film that was based on his ideas!  

YETIS AND RIVER LIZARDS
A selection of storyboard artwork examples that were rendered by artists Robin Bielefeld and Duncan Rouleau!

RAIDERS OF THE STONE RING STORYBOARD PANELS
A couple of panels drawn by David Allen back when the project was still titled RAIDERS OF THE STONE RING!
The 40-page PRIMEVALS celebration zone finishes here.

HANDCRAFTED FABULOUSNESS
A look at three of Czech director/screenwriter/special effects artist Karel Zeman’s most beloved films: JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME, INVENTION FOR DESTRUCTION and THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN!

OH! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL UGLY BIRD!
Uber-talented animator Harry Walton discusses the time he brought the squawking stop-motion terror known as the Ugly Bird to the screen in the quirky cult folk horror feature film THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN. Harry also talks about the transition he made from traditional stop-motion to handling and supervising scenes that involved the Go-Motion process.

STOP-MOTION FILM REVIEWS
Movies reviewed include THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, MAD GOD, ONE MILLION YEARS B.C., EQUINOX and KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS.

BRETT PIPER’S STOP-MOTION WONDERLAND!
A 30-page zone focusing on the work of director, writer & animator Brett Piper. This section is overflowing with interviews, behind the scenes puppet shots, reviews, plus info on upcoming projects! Check out what’s in store within this section of the mag…

CARRYING THE TORCH
An interview with Brett Piper, the unsung hero of the live action/stop-motion film genre! Brett continues to carry the torch, almost singlehandedly ensuring that stop-motion-with-live-action films are still getting made. Here he talks about the many entertaining, modestly-budgeted feature films that he’s been responsible for, including A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL, BATTLE FOR THE LOST PLANET, OUTPOST EARTH and REDNECK MUTANTS.

MAKING MONSTERS
A look at how Brett builds his puppets is demonstrated via two step-by-step examples. The first example focuses on the titular dinosaur-like id-critter from BUSTER (2024), and the second looks at the construction of an alien bug-monster, known as a ‘Clicket’, from OUTPOST EARTH (2019).

PICTURE PERFECT
A selection of creature sketches and concept drawings rendered by Brett for his various projects over the years.

ON THE COMET
A sneak peek at a feature film project that Brett will hopefully be making. In this proposed adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel ‘Off on a Comet’, a steampunk-style airship finds itself on a comet where prehistoric beasts still roam!

BRETT PIPER: TELLER OF TALES
In this interview Brett is asked about his ‘2 MINUTE KLASSICS’, which are a series of all-puppet stop-motion shorts. They are super-concise adaptations of such stories as FIRST MEN IN THE MOON and 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. Brett also talks about his in-progress all-puppet short… SINBAD GOES TO MARS!

FLEETING YARNS OF HIGH ADVENTURE
All of Brett’s 2 MINUTE KLASSICS (which are short mini-movies with running times that vary from around 7 to nearly 10 minutes in length) are reviewed!

PIPER’S PUPPET GALLERY
A double page spread of behind the scenes photos of some of Brett Piper’s gorgeous stop-motion puppets!
The 30-page Brett Piper Wonderland zone finishes here.

THE BEAUTY OF DESTRUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION
A dive into the strange, unsettling worlds of Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto’s films TETSUO: THE IRON MAN, TETSUO II: BODY HAMMER and HIRUKO THE GOBLIN. These three movies are awash with off-the-wall stop-motion effects (including pixilation), copious amounts of surrealism & futurism, bouts of body horror and gritty cyberpunk aesthetics.

YOU’LL JUST HAVE TIME TO SCREAM… BEFORE IT TEARS YOU APART!
Randall William Cook, the three-times Oscar winner, doesn’t mince his words as he is questioned about the Larry Cohen film Q: THE WINGED SERPENT! Randall chats about working with Tibor Takacs too.

THE ANIMATED DINOSAURS OF JURASSIC PARK
In Randal Dutra’s second interview for this issue, he remembers his time producing animatics and the dinosaur movement ‘bible’ for JURASSIC PARK, and explains how it was his work using the newly-invented Dinosaur Input Device that heralded the seismic shift from stop-motion/Go-Motion over to CG effects. 

RADIOACTIVE REVIEWS
A final mini-review section looking at a couple of non-animated movies, including the wild Taiwanese flick WATARI AND THE SEVEN MONSTERS!

C’mon folks, this issue is 100% pure-gold animation heaven for stop-motion movie fans everywhere!