BIO

Matthew Reinhart is a renowned paper engineer and bona fide Star Wars aficionado. He has worked with Robert Sabuda on many wonderful pop-up titles such as THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF OZ, A B C DISNEY, the Encyclopedia Prehistorica trilogy, and MOVABLE MOTHER GOOSE. He also created MOMMY? by Maurice Sendak, THE POP-UP BOOK OF NIGHTMARES, and THE POP-UP BOOK OF PHOBIAS. He lives in New York City.

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AUTHOR TALK

October 2007

Artist and paper engineer Matthew Reinhart put his own three-dimensional spin on classic tales in CINDERELLA: A POP-UP FAIRY TALE and THE JUNGLE BOOK: A POP-UP ADVENTURE, and worked with Robert Sabuda on the bestselling Encyclopedia Prehistorica trilogy. His latest work, STAR WARS: A POP-UP GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, pays homage to the legendary cult-classic films by George Lucas and is meant to act as an encyclopedia of characters, vehicles and places in the series. In this interview, Reinhart describes his childhood passion for the original movies and discusses what he hopes his guide will contribute to the "Star Wars universe." He also details the research he performed at the Lucas Ranch, explains the painstaking process of creating these magnificent pop-ups and shares some of his favorite characters and spreads from the book.

Question: What is STAR WARS: A POP-UP GUIDE TO THE GALAXY?

Matthew Reinhart: The book is a three-dimensional encyclopedia of the Star Wars universe. It’s a way of learning about all the characters, vehicles, and places in the Star Wars world.

Q: How did you first become a fan of Star Wars?

MR: I hardly remember when I first became a fan of Star Wars. Probably when I was six years old. It’s always been a part of my life. Everything about the Star Wars universe excited me. It ignited my imagination.

Q: When did you start collecting Star Wars memorabilia?

MR: I started collecting Star Wars figures and toys about thirty years ago, when the first movie came out. Every Christmas there was always this huge pile of Star Wars figures, and I couldn’t wait to open them. I was a really organized kid, so I kept everything in perfect condition. I still have all of my original Star Wars figures, plus a lot of new ones. I never stopped collecting. I probably have thousands of figures and toys from all the movies.

There are a lot of Star Wars books out there, but for my contribution to the Star Wars universe, I wanted to make something special and different. My book contains all original artwork. It’s a three-dimensional experience on paper. I wanted to make a book that made you feel like you were there --- like these things were happening in front of you. I wanted to mimic the wonder that I felt when I saw the movies and make people feel excited about Star Wars. I tried to include every bit of Star Wars information that a novice would be able to appreciate, while also including some tidbits for the mega-fan who knows everything.

Q: What are some of the weird and wonderful characters and aliens readers will find in your pop-up book?

MR: There are thirty-seven pop-ups in the book, so there’s a lot in there from the original trilogy: Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. There’s a very large rancor monster, which is the creature that attacked Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. As he reaches out and moves his arms, there is a character called the Gamorrean guard in his hand. So not only does he gnash his teeth, but he also moves his arms. There’s also Chewbacca and Jawas and Greedo and every creature that I could imagine; everyone that I could cram into this book.

Q: What vehicles and droids will readers encounter?

MR: Everyone’s favorites: the Millennium Falcon, Imperial Walkers, and a snowspeeder flying on its side. There’s a very large pop-up of the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo’s spaceship. And it unfolds right there on the page.

Q: Readers come face to face with Darth Vader in this book, how did you make this happen?

MR: In the book there is a very large three-dimensional head of Darth Vader. Darth Vader is an iconic Star Wars character. We follow him throughout all six of the movies. I thought it was really important to make a pop-up head; and not just a flat pop-up head that stands on the page --- but a completely three-dimensional head. This took months. When I first got the idea to make the Star Wars book, about seven years ago, I made some sample pops --- just to start to feel out how his face would work. In the pop-up, every angle is shown in that mask, as well. And I wanted it to show Darth Vader’s real face as Anakin Skywalker underneath the mask. So as you open the page, not only do you see the beginnings of a black helmet form, but you see his original face with the mask closing up over it to become the dark lord of the Sith. The process of creating it took years. But it was really worth it.

Q: What is the most difficult part of making a pop-up book?

MR: The most difficult part is really the beginning, the engineering. The book begins with a manuscript. I have the words first, and then after that, I decide which of the events in the text (or, in this case, encyclopedia) are going to become three-dimensional. With STAR WARS it was easy. I knew there was going to be a Darth Vader helmet, and I knew there would be a Millennium Falcon. I knew there would be a completely 3-D R2-D2 and C3-PO together, because they’re probably my favorite characters in the whole series. It’s the engineering that takes the longest. And everything starts by hand. I work in my studio and I design everything, it’s not done on computer. I use tape and glue and cut out and fold paper. And I make tons of mistakes. Nothing comes out perfectly at first. And with STAR WARS, there are so many odd shapes, vehicles, and creatures. It took a year to get the book finished. And the engineering was the hardest part. Making R2-D2’s round domed head, for example, took a lot of work, not only to make sure it was round, but to make sure it would open and close every time. There were a lot of mistakes --- and a lot of glue and paper wound up all over the floor of my studio.

Q: How did you do the research for this book?

MR: I’ve been doing research for this book my whole life. I’ve read all the novels, I have all the picture books, I have seen the movies several times, and so I know a lot about Star Wars. But, of course, I had to make sure everything was exactly right. I did a lot of research on Starwars.com and studied images and action figures to make sure the proportions were just right. And I visited the archives at Lucas Ranch!

Q: What was it like visiting Lucas Ranch?

MR: As I said, in doing research for this book, I had the unbelievable honor and privilege of visiting the Lucas Ranch. I got to go to the Star Wars archives and see the costumes and models from the original movies. It was absolutely the most incredible experience of my life. The Lucasfilm people were so nice to me and were so excited about the project. And here I am, going into this warehouse and seeing these images from my childhood. The characters were sitting right there on the shelf. It was incredible. I have a lot of pictures of me standing next to everything, pointing at things and smiling. I was so excited. I still am. I can’t believe I was able to do it. And it was really helpful because I was able to see some of the models of vehicles completely in 3-D. It was awesome to be able to go and experience that and see things first-hand. And, actually, when I was there, I noticed (because I’m such a fan) that there was a piece with a character’s mask labeled incorrectly. I pointed it out to them and of course, at first, they thought I was crazy. But they actually did acknowledge it and changed the label. It was pretty cool to be able to find that.<

Q: What is your favorite spread in the book?

MR: It’s hard for me to choose a favorite spread, but there are some that are extra special, because I like the characters so much. I always loved Jabba the Hutt, because he is so disgusting. I love Princess Leia. She is shown in her first appearance in A New Hope, when she raises her hood and shows her face. And she has the cinnamon bun hairstyle --- because it’s not Princess Leia without the buns --- and she has a blaster. So she is not only beautiful, but she shows she’s tough. And the AT-AT walker in the first spread is pretty incredible because the movement is so cool. It has articulated legs and it moves forward. It’s such a powerful scene from The Empire Strikes Back that I had to make sure it was the first image that readers would experience in the book.

Spread number two probably has the most pop-ups I’ve ever crammed on one page. There’s this huge rancour monster and it has a Gamorrean guard in his hand. There is a giant Chewbacca on the side spread, and other characters like Wicket the Ewok, Jawas, and other tiny pops. On the other side, there’s a running tauntaun on the frozen planet Hoth. Tauntauns are kangaroo-like creatures with horns. As you open that tauntaun, and it’s running across the page, you also can open a side flap at the same time --- revealing another creature, called a wampa, who attacks a tauntaun and then the tauntaun attacks back. There are a lot of pops that act on other pop-ups in this book, which is really a lot of fun.

© Copyright 2007, Orchard Books/Scholastic. All rights reserved.

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