So with the new Clash of The Titans out, or soon to be out, in the theatres, last night TCM ran a Ray Harryhausen triple threat. It included his two forays into Greek mythology, Jason and The Argonauts (63) as well as Clash of The Titans (81), wrapping up with The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (73 )
This is something which the kids should never be made to forget, that once a handful of men brought monsters to life with a table top and mechanical armatures. And with Ray Harryhausen, he often creates miracles of stop animation which today requires a massive computer program to pull off.
Ray Harryhausen fell in love with the process as a youngster watching Willis O'Brian's King Kong (33) and later apprenticing with the master on Mighty Joe Young. (49 )
In 1953, he got his first feature; The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (Based from a Ray Bradbury short story entitled 'The Foghorn. ' ) starting a grand career which produced a Giant Octopus destroying San Francisco, Saucers attacking Washington DC, an incredible Venusian Ymir rampaging through modern Rome, Cowboys vs Dinosaurs, scores of critters from classic mythology and classic Science Fiction (H.G. Welle's First Men in The Moon (64) and Jule's Verne's Mysterious Island(61) )
Later, after Clash of The Titans in 1981, he retired officially but has still been consulted on numerous projects since then, including Spielberg's Jurassic Park.
I was lucky enough to have met the man at a Philadelphia Sci Fi con many years ago, and he was a very cool man to chat with.
I only hope the CGI Generation can learn to appreciate this pioneer of all things fantastic. His art was hands on and always on budget.
Wayne Z
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