Ray Harryhausen pioneered stop-motion animation, creating classics such as 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms,' and 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.' Without his work, 'there never would have been a "Star Wars" or a "Jurassic Park,''' Steven Spielberg said.
Ray Harryhausen, special-effects legend, dies at 92
Just found out about this and am deeply saddened. He's one of my heroes. =(
I know we have a thread for these kinds of things but I really think he deserves his own.
I agree.
Here's what I posted in the other thread...
Ray was one of my personal heroes. (And I don't use that term lightly.) As a kid, I would often run to the tv to catch one of his movies in those pre video days. He was the first behind the scenes guy whose name I learned, and associated with what I saw on the screen.
I came perilously close to breaking my parent's VCR watching the Jason and the Argonauts skeleton battle frame by frame. Thank goodness for Laserdiscs!
There are so many of those ILM guys who were inspired by him to get into the industry. (And countless others.) When they made the leap to digital dinos for Jurassic Park, Ray was one of the first people they showed the footage to.
I just bought his early films on Blu Ray in a box set at Costco last month. On the commentary track for Twenty Million Miles To Earth, Ray sounded like a little kid, relishing the Ymir's final battle in Rome. He was truly young at heart.
I feel very fortunate I got his autograph at a comic show in the early 90's. I was walking on air the rest of that day.
This one is going to hurt for a little while. :(
Where were you in '77?
All I can say is that even the lamest movies he's worked on were raised up a notch by his effects (except for Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger; the acting in that was so atrocious that I couldn't stand to watch anything past the ten minute mark).
But, the second Doctor is in it! Peter Mayhew was the live action double for the Minaton. And Jane Seymour nearly naked sunbathing scene! Need I go on?
Where were you in '77?
I met Ray a couple of times. Once I asked him a question about an effect.
I asked him how was the effect created in that, if someone throws an object from a live action plate into an effect plate does the object stay in the air. He said it was magic. He was right.
He was still reluctant to divulge such secrets even when asked on those Blu Ray commentaries. The old Criterion LD of Jason and the Argonauts did go into how a sword held by an actor seamlessly blends into the one thrust into the Hydra's neck.
I sincerely hope the studios release the rest of his films on Blu Ray. I haven't seen Valley of Gwangi or Beast from 20,000 Fathoms in a long time.
TCM ought to do a tribute. They premiered the fairytale short The Tortoise and the Hare, which Ray had abandoned when his Hollywood career took off. It was completed by some fellow animators and fans 50 years later!
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoGQDGMn_Lo
Part 2
Where were you in '77?
R.I.P. , Mr. Harryhausen : (
Adult Swim ran a silent bump tonight, with a black and white still of Ray animating the snake dancer from The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. Very tasteful and well done, especially for Adult Swim.
Not sure if it's a coincidence or not, but the Family Guy episode that aired on AS tonight had a Clash of the Titans reference.
Where were you in '77?
TCM must have have planned ahead, or somebody over there is a very fast editor.
Where were you in '77?
Where were you in '77?
I find the term 'passed away' almost as cringe worthy as RIP (it makes it sound like he just went around the corner or something).
Watching Buffy the other day they had a lovely homage to Ray in the episode Tabula Rasa.
Giles accidentally conjures forth a warrior skeleton which fights him Jason And The Argonauts style.
The fact they bothered to add stop motion style stutter to what must have been CGI is a testament to just how deeply embedded the texture of his work is in Nerdom.
The stop motion series Bump in the Night once had a character exclaim "Holy Harryhausen!" when confronted by a tentacled monster.
By the way, has anybody else noticed animator Phil Tippett is looking more like Ray all the time? Even though he seems to be sporting a Santa Claus beard these days...
Where were you in '77?
Condolences to those he left behind.