Great news for Irwin Allen fans, especially those who weren’t able to afford or get hold of the original The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen by Jeff Bond. The cost of shipping such a substantial book overseas will have been prohibative for many. Advance orders are now being taken in both the US and UK for a re-release of this amazing book which is being re-published with a fresh cover design and a lower price point by Titan Books on 15 October 2024.
Featured in the Heritage Auctions – Irwin Allen Collection auction are two presentation books for The Time Tunnel. Both books feature some wonderful illustrations. Bidding is currently over $10,000 on these books. This is going to be a record breaking auction.
A new set of Japanese Irwin Allen collectibles are being auctioned on 28th/29th September (US/UK time) on eBay. The auctions feature collectibles featuring all four of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series.
The second and final volume of Marc Cushman and Mark Alfred’s series of books on the making of Irwin Allen’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is now available.
Irwin Allen’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Volume Two: The Authorized Biography of a Classic Sci-Fi Series, from Jacobs/Brown Press, completes the two-book set by Marc Cushman and Mark Alfred, documenting the production and cultural impact of this iconic, beloved and pioneering science-fiction series.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, which aired on ABC-TV from 1964 through 1968, was the first hour-long, color, science-fiction series on television. Its success proved to the networks that such a show, within the constraints of a TV budget and shooting schedule, could attract a mass audience. Without Voyage, there would have been no Lost in Space or Star Trek. CBS and NBC, respectively, only decided to gamble on those series after Voyage had not only premiered – while staying on budget and schedule – but went on to win its time slot. Therefore, it was Irwin Allen who had boldly gone where no man (or television producer) had gone before!
Now, with Volume 2 and the previous volume as your guides, you can journey back in time to witness the making of this legendary series. Here you’ll find the production memos between Irwin Allen, his staff, and the ABC-TV network; the shooting schedules and production dates; the budgets; the ratings; the reviews and articles from that era; new and exclusive interviews, as well as archival interviews; and hundreds of pictures, many never before shared with the public. And you’ll find out what made Irwin Allen tick.
With an introduction by David Hedison, Volume 2 covers the making of Seasons 2, 3 and 4 – all 78 color episodes! Your deep dive into Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is here.
The book is available both through Jacobs/Brown Press and Amazon in the US, UK and Australia.
Irwin Allen’s wife Sheila spoke fondly of her desire for there to be a coffee table book on producer Irwin Allen and his career, and finally that dream is coming true with Jeff Bond’s new book The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen with a foreword written by Lost in Space star, Bill Mumy.
Creature Features in association with Synthesis Entertainment and Legendary Pictures presents THE FANTASY WORLDS OF IRWIN ALLEN, the definitive coffee table book more than two and a half years in the making!
This deluxe 600+ page limited edition hardback is the first and only book of its kind to take a visual journey through the mind and career of legendary producer Irwin Allen, the “Master of Disaster”—the man behind some of the most popular television programs of the 1960s and the visionary who invented the special effects movie blockbuster format with his 1970s hits The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno.
Authored by Jeff Bond with the full participation and cooperation of the Irwin Allen Estate, THE FANTASY WORLDS OF IRWIN ALLEN follows the ambitious icon from his early days as a Hollywood agent and radio personality to his lengthy stint at 20th Century Fox, where he produced movies such as The Lost World and Five Weeks in a Balloon and the popular television shows Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants.
Allen employed the studio’s sprawling lot and soundstages, its library of movie footage, costumes and props, and its veteran special effects craftsmen to bring vivid color and movie-quality action, miniature effects and visuals to television viewers accustomed to low-budget, black and white programming. Allen’s flare for action and visual punch gave audiences some of the 1960s most popular and iconic figures: Admiral Nelson and Captain Crane of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; the Lost in Space Robot and Jonathan Harris’ nefarious Dr. Zachary Smith; Will Robinson and the Robinson family of space travelers; the pop art kaleidoscope of The Time Tunnel; the Jupiter 2, the Seaview, the Flying Sub, the Spindrift.
Before George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, Irwin Allen broke box office records with two of the biggest movie blockbusters of all time: The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. Wooed to Warner Bros. at the height of his power with the offer of a building named in his honor and one of the most generous studio contracts ever given a producer, Allen faced his biggest challenge: topping himself with The Swarm, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, When Time Ran Out, and a series of ambitious projects for television.
Illustrated with more than 2,000 images including concept and production artwork, storyboards, blueprints, design sketches, miniatures and behind-the-scenes photographs, many of them never before published, THE FANTASY WORLDS OF IRWIN ALLEN is the ultimate guide to Allen’s famous productions, from his documentaries The Sea Around Us and The Animal World to his spectacular TV-movie City Beneath the Sea, plus fascinating unproduced projects, all explored in detail for the first time.
This hardbound masterwork will be offered in a standard edition of 1000 copies, and a deluxe signed edition of 250 copies autographed by author Jeff Bond and actor Bill Mumy, who penned the foreword.
Pre-orders begin on a first come, first served basis exclusively at www.creaturefeatures.com on Friday, April 19th at 12 noon Pacific Standard Time.
The book is slated to arrive at our door in mid-July and begin shipping immediately, though shipping schedules are always subject to change.
PLEASE NOTE: Creature Features is the only authorized source for new copies of this book and will not be offering it thru Amazon or any other retail sellers.
Sample pages from the book The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen
Available now is the first of two volumes by Marc Cushman recording the history of Irwin Allen’s Lost in Space. Reaching nearly 700 pages, this first volume covers the making of the first season of Lost in Space and features many notes from Lost in Space production papers, never seen before photos, and old and new interviews with those involved in the show. Reading through the chapters will give you a greater understanding on how television classics like this were produced.
This will be the ultimate reference source for anyone studying the series.
Marc Cushman has also written a three volume series of books researching Star Trek.
The book is available direct from the publishers Jacobs Brown Press or on Amazon.com.
Our friends in Japan have listed a number of rare 1960s/70s Japanese Irwin Allen collectibles for auction on Ebay (ending 23rd or 24th September, depending on your time zone). Click here or on the above image to see the items being auctioned.
If you are planning on auctioning any unusual, original, or rare Irwin Allen toys or collectibles at an online auction house or eBay and would like IANN to publicise your auction, please feel free to email over some pictures and descriptions with auction estimates, time, date and location details. Please let us know the name to credit with each photo (can be full name, nickname, initials etc).
Lost in Space Encyclopedia II – Expanded and revised edition edited by Flint Mitchell and William E. Anchors, Jr. This updated edition is now 468 pages long, with 200 new photos, and all new articles on
Available at Amazon (see above), Alpha Control Press and LISFAN Press.
If you are in LA this weekend, drop by the Dark Delicacies store for David Hedison and Diane Kachmar’s book signing for the book The Fly at 50. Signing starts at 2pm on Saturday 23rd June at the Dark Delicacies book store on Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank, California.
We are running a brand new photographic competition to celebrate today, 29th February 2012, with the goal of showcasing your favourite Irwin Allen collectibles.
Over the past 50 years, an amazing number of collectibles have been produced to celebrate and promote all of the Irwin Allen movies and television shows. This is your opportunity to show off with pride your amazing Irwin Allen collectibles. If you have a large collection of Irwin Allen toys etc, why not gather them together for a photo shoot.
If your collection is more modest as many of ours are, try some creative and fun photography showcasing which collectibles you treasure most. Collections can include books, toys, DVDs, photo collections, badges, magazines, posters, model kits and builds, and all other kinds of Irwin Allen paraphernalia. A small judging panel of Irwin Allen fans (not including any competitors) will decide between them which are the favourite collection photos. If they are available, we may even ask one or two Irwin Allen actors to take a look at the competition entries and help with the judging process.
Remember, it’s not about how many collectibles you own, but on how you present and treasure them. If you don’t have a digital camera, see if a friend or member of your family can take a snapshot of your Irwin Allen collectible(s) with their mobile phone and email the photo over as an attachment.
The best photographs will be featured and credited to your name (either your full name or a nickname if you prefer) in a special permanent gallery at the end of the competition.
Some inventive or creative ideas might be to create a Time Tunnel backdrop and photograph your collectibles in front of it. Or use camera angles to depict a giant picking up one of your Land of the Giants collectibles. If you have some photo editing software, why not add some special photographic effects to add a typical “Irwin Allen” atmosphere to your photograph. There are endless possibilities. Most of all, have fun seeing your collectibles in a different light.
Click here for details on how to enter the Leap Year Competition