When artist and comedian Doogie Horner was asked to pitch adult coloring book ideas to Harper Collins, he suggested doing ones based on ’80s movies. His theory? “They are adult coloring books so it’s sort of this weird nostalgia thing,” he told The A.V. Club. “So I thought, what was actually happening when we were kids?” And thus begat Die Hard: The Coloring Book, an authorized chance for you to turn John McClane purple or Hans Gruber green.
In order to decide which moments to illustrate, Horner took 7,000 screenshots of every second of the movie. Above, you can see an exclusive sample of Horner’s art featuring Hans’ dramatic fall. “I just love that look on his face and that moment,” Horner said. “He’s so scary in that scene, and even when he’s falling he looks like he’s going to get you or something.” You’ll note, however, that Hans doesn’t exactly look like Alan Rickman. That’s because while Fox gave the official go ahead for the coloring book, the actors didn’t hand over merchandising rights. “When I draw John McClane it’s supposed to look like John McClane, not Bruce Willis,” Horner explained. That meant he couldn’t tackle the iconic close-up of John and his lighter in the air duct. It was just too much Willis.
The book also features some non-coloring activities, including one in which you can edit the movie’s dialogue, Mad Libs-style, so it becomes appropriate for network TV. Yippee-ki-yay, motherfarter.
Die Hard: The Authorized Coloring And Activity Book comes out October 25. Horner also has a comedy album out now.