Several films have fallen victim to terrible publicity. No matter how much promise a project holds, without a decent advertising campaign, it may never find an audience.

Though special effects master Ray Harryhausen held a special place in his heart for The Valley of Gwangi (1969), the film wasn’t well-received by critics. “I’m always fascinated with Gwangi on how everyone wanted to pick the faults in it,” said Harryhausen during a 1995 interview with Imagi-Movies. “Very few people mentioned all the virtues of good, sound entertainment. People who went to see it— those who did see it— enjoyed it immensely.”

The film was not without its difficulties during production, though Harryhausen certainly worked to overcome unseen obstacles. “People are under the delusion that we have ideal conditions when we shoot on location,” said the creator. “That’s simply not true. You try to allow for snags, but sometimes things aren’t perfect.”

Harryhausen also chided Warner Brothers for a lackluster publicity campaign, which he believed damned the film to obscurity. “It was ludicrous that they’d just dump it like it was an ordinary film, without any publicity at all! Then, we got this bill for a fantastic amount for publicity, which I certainly didn’t think we deserved. The new Warner management had no interest in the picture at all.”

William Bast, who wrote the film, argued that perhaps the film did find success where one might least expect. “My niece brought me to her school for Show and Tell,” said Bast. “I explained how it was created, then watched it with a roomful of seven-year-olds. I got a chance to see the effect it still had on the audience it was designed for.”