Cool News
Happy 90th Birthday Ray Harryhausen!!!
Hey folks, Harry here... celebrating the 90th year of the lord of stop motion and fantasy film making... I'm talking about, of course, Ray Harryhausen. For those of us that grew up in the 50's, 60's, 70's... slightly before STAR WARS and long long long before Dennis Muren put Go-Motion in the box for JURASSIC PARK... there was Ray Harryhausen.
Ray is easily one of the single most beloved figures in the behind the scenes arts. While primarily an effects master, Ray's sense of wonder, personality, design and imagination was so clearly outputted to the screen that his films and him in particular... are cherished as though they were the beating heart of Jimmy Stewart himself. I've had the honor of getting to spend some really great quality time with Ray over my lifetime, and he's like an additional grandfather to me. Not to mention one of the chief founders of my imagination. His creatures live in my brain - and I love them there.
My curiosity about how he did what he did, gave me the passion to pursue finding out more about film in general. How do you make a toy live? That's what I always gathered, and nobody, but nobody's toys moved like Harryhausen's.
But the greatest thing that I can say about Ray Harryhausen is that he is the single nicest man I have ever met in my life. Gracious and an absolutely lovely human being. Now, I thought about putting up a bunch of his trailers, but this person cut together images of every creature that Ray brought to life - and set them to what else, but the magic of Tito Puente's MON TI. (Hey, don't knock it, watch how awesome that drum thumping is to the skeleton fight in Jason!)
-
+ Expand All
-
Glad to know this legend is still with us
-
You Legend.
-
Happy Birthday Ray !!
-
The giant bronze statue Talos turning his head to look down at the Argonauts is still one of the most awesome and terrifying fantasy shots ever put on celluloid. Love it.
-
It's easy to take Harryhausen for granted, but his influence is huge! Even to normal plebs like me. Just looking at that video brought back so much of my childhood movie experience.
Happy Birthday, Sir! -
Ray`s health these days? Hope he's well and enjoys turning the big 9-0.
-
I can't even start to say how much cinema and the world owes that man. Nice link to the Guardian review of his incredible, amazing geekgasm of a tribute in London at the weekend (click on his name in the article above).
-
We are not worthy.
-
so says harry!
-
In your face liberal scientists!
-
All the best RH.
-
Jun 29, 2010 10:36:18 AM CDT
Thank god! I thought this was an obit!
by bp_drills_america_a_new_asshole
As soon as I saw his name in the top story section, I feared the worse. But its only his birthday. Phew. Happy birthday, Ray. You're the greatest.
-
Although his classic age of filmmaking has come to an end...it is sad that he retired after Clash of the Titans. Until recently, I assumed he had died 20 years ago. By the way did anyone else notice the nod to Mr. Harryhausen in Monsters Inc.? Harryhausen's was the name of the sushi restaurant featured in the movie.
-
to film: Sword-Fighting Skeletons!I went to Comic Con in 2005 just to see him. I sat there listening to him talk about his years in the business. Probably the greatest geek moment of my life.
-
You've seen it all and done it all in the industry.
-
Jun 29, 2010 10:50:33 AM CDT
If it weren't for Ray Harryhausen, I might not be here.
by the reluctant austinite
My single greatest theatrical childhood memories belong to not to "Star Wars" but to "Sinbad". I'm not old enough to have seen "7th Voyage" and "Golden Voyage" in their original theatrical releases, but when I was a kid we lived near a theater that showed second run films all the time. To make matters better, my step-sister's husband's mom ran the theater and it was only a bike ride away. I could see anything I wanted, any time I wanted, which led to some bizzare screenings for a little kid; everything from "Norma Rae" to "Race with the Devil". Nothing, however, hit me as hard as Harryhausen's Sinbad films and "Jason and the Argonauts". I was blessed enough to see "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" on the first day of its theatrical run, as well as Harryhausen's swan song, "Clash of the Titans". Many of Harryhausen's classic monster movies I saw right along with "Godzilla", "Dracula" and "The Wolf Man" on local Friday night/Sunday afternoon monster movie programs. These are the films that changed my life and evenutally made me the person I am today right up to this second of typing this birthday wish to Ray Harryhausen on AICN this afternoon. I've been lucky enough to meet Ray twice as a fan at Wonderfest in Louisville, KY. One of those times I got a full career interview which was published in a local weekly and still remains my proudest published piece as a journalist. I also wrote a Dining Out column at the time, and that week I themed every dining choice to a different Harryhausen film (Geek restaurant = Jason & the Argonauts, etc.) and Ray had read that piece when I met him for the interview. He was really tickled by my attempt to wedge my fandom into my writing job, and I was overjoyed at his response to it. Ray is a living legend and a geniune gentleman that basically, single handly, change the fantasy film industry and the lives of thousands of fans. God Bless him.
-
And thanks for all the cool movies too!
-
KTLA Channel 5 "Family Film Festival" on Sundays during the late 70's early 80's as a kid in Southern California, hosted by Tom Hatten. He would play all of Harryhausen's stuff (plus the live-action Disney, Godzilla movies, Pippi Longstocking, anything)antasy/sci-fi)THAT SAID, I got to meet the man himself and got my ANIMATED LIFE book signed and a photo taken. RESPECT!
-
Legend
-
Thanks for Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Jason and the Argonauts, inspiring an entire generation of filmmakers including Spielberg, Lucas, Burton, Cameron and Jackson, and everything else you've ever done you great, glorious, bald, big-nosed, liver-spotted decrepit old thing you!!!!
-
Ymir says the same!!
-
Had dinner with Mr. Harryhausen about fifteen years ago, and he was a total gentleman, every bit as wonderful as I could have hoped.
-
Agree with Harry - the nicest guy you'll ever meet.
-
just realized you're the restaurant in monster's Inc. How bout that fantastic mr fox? I like the character designs on the humans better than any digital film I've worked on. Well have fun!
-
for all the wonder you gave us growing up....I used to pay a nickle a day during lunch hour to see 7th Voyage of Sinbad spread across a week...didn't get to the good stuff til Friday! :)
-
...and for Harry posting it :)
-
done many monsters from Rings to Avatar. But if you ever meet me I'll kick you in the stumoch and stand on your head. Then I'll shit in your milk as the German's say. So you should appreciate how nice Ray is.
-
I met him by chance at my work - where I do meet a lot of celebrities - and I asked him, and pointed out it was the first autograph I had ever asked for, 'cause of real interest and admiration for his work. A truly great man.
-
I must have seen Jason over 200 times but I still love that part where Telos comes alive. Pure magic!
-
The Motion Picture Academy Museum on Whilshire has great exhibit of Harryhausan's work, including many original models. You should really check it out.
-
Love all the Harryhausen movies. I spent many hours of my childhood re-enacting the monster moments from his movies with my toys. Medusa in Clash of the Titans is still one of the best effects pieces I've seen on film.
-
...but I didn't know he was approaching 90. That's walking history right there. Congratulations to him on the anniversary of the day of his birth.
-
I have the "Art of Ray Harryhausen" book which gives details on a slew of projects which he developed that never happened, unfortunately. Many sounded rather promising, so I need to get the alternate universe where "Valley of the Mist" actually happened!
-
...as a kid, so did my imagination.
Thanks Ray...and Happy 90th! Here's to many more. -
i have and asked for just ONE autograph by any person in my life, and that is Ray Harryhausen. He gave it to me when presenting King Kong (1933 restored) at Berliner Filmfestspiele, some 20 years ago or so. I still have it, of course, its on the King Kong ticket.I was at the right age when Sinbad's Seventh Voyage entered cinemas and have been absolutely fascinated and a fan since then, creating my own stop motion mini-movies, dreaming of being a sfx-technicia/stop motion artist myself... until today (sniff).HAPPY BIRTHDAY and thank you, thank you, thank you for all the magic you gave me, dear Ray Harryhausen.
-
And I loved it! Skeletons, statues, Gods... I get goosebumps even now just thinking about them. Thanks - and many happy returns!
-
thrilled me and made me marvel at your patience and skill.
-
I was lucky enough to sit behind him for showing of king kong in Austin. half the time I'm going wow this movie looks great and half the time I'm going that's ray harryhousen!
-
Is this new tech? I kid. Happy Birthday. You are a living legend
-
As a kid, when I saw JASOn during the original run, it gave me a whole new and completely different love of films that remains to this day. While I am disappointed that Sony did not join the celebration by releasing the original, Harrryhausen-approved version on Blu-Ray (maybe someday Criterion will), my best wishes and eternal thanks for all of your painstaking years in small rooms making dreams come to life.
-
Many thanks for all the thrills and chills over the years!
-
My birthday is tomorrow (june 30th). Good to know i'm in such esteamed company. Enjoyed all his movies (favorite being of course Jason & the Argonaults. Seen it a million times, never gets old.) Timeless, just like the man himself.
-
is 98 years, got a bafta a tribute and this site did not even acknlowedge that.
-
effort.Stop motion done well can still look better than a lot of cgi.Theres a solid , realism aspect to it thats lost with computer generated stuff .
-
is a master and a magician to boot. maybe even a master magician. the mans a genius. happy birthday, mister Harryhausen.
-
Jun 29, 2010 2:24:24 PM CDT
Weird thing is, stop motion doesn't take you out of the moment
by lone fox
While cg does. Go figure.
-
Great kid. They believed, he believed, and everyone who loved the fantastic and strange was blessed for their efforts. Happy Birthday RH!
-
The reason stop-motion works so well in fantasy films is precisely BECAUSE of it's unreality...they are fantasy figures in-and-of themselves! How I wish someone would make a fantasy film using ALL stop-motion, but with today;s technology. If they can make CORALINE, they can do a live-action and stop-motion film. Probably never happen...which makes Mr. Harryhausen's exceptional work all the more unique, rare, precious, and eternally valued.
-
Rango trailer is awesome
-
Your work will always be a huge inspiration. I'll take model animation over CGI any day!
-
His craft, his genius and his boundless creativity continue to shine on for ages. And if that weren't enough...a gentlemen and a kind soul as well. Please don't ever leave us, Ray...we'd all love to celebrate your 100th too....
-
Great video.
The Medusa is Ray's masterpiece. No amount of CGI nonsense can surpass the creepiness of that scene. The music, the flickering orange fire light...and that terrifying Medusa! Oh and Talos and the Cyclops are right up there too.
Happy Birthday Ray Harryhausen. -
Its pretty ironic that the first movie that really brought CG into the mainstream was a liquid metal being in T2. Ironic because metal is cold and so is CG. Stop motion warmed my heart as a kid and it still does. There is something "reassuringly fake" about it. You see the love and hand craft that stop motion pioneers like Ray poured into it. CG is made by nerds sitting behind a computer screen pressing buttons. The CG in avatar whilst impressive was cold and calculating like a computer. Human hands crafting something lovingly will always have a special charm over a number crunching machine creating something.
-
Tron 1982
The Abyss 1989 -
Someone is still creating the art, even if it's just on a computer. It's all about the person holding the instrument. That instrument can be a mouse, or modelling clay. It doesn't matter to me. Happy Birthday Ray.
-
...about what was real and photographedseen by a camerta lens. CGI is created in a computer and transferred to film. Never seen by a camera lens. The magic of movies used to be that everything, however fantastical...was REAL. The camera saw it! With CGI, nothing is real.
-
Very cool montage of a masters work. Ray and Ralph McQuarrie were the biggest influences on me and both inspired me to get into films.
-
... the future was out to get him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtpeiXgBiIA -
His work has a personal touch that most computer prgrammers love. An absolute cinema legend, I had the pleasure of meeting him in Edinburgh a couple of years back, my signed copy of The Art of Ray Harryhausen is now a treasured belonging.
-
Nothing to do with JURASSIC PARK...
-
But the techniques were the ones developed in the early 1980s - see DRAGONSLAYER for details...
-
Read Ray Bradbury's novel A GRAVEYARD FOR LUNATICS...
-
The other kids wanted to be cops and astronauts, I wanted to be a stop-motion animator, thanks to Harryhausen and O'brien.
-
He just is. One of the biggest influences on my life. I also managed to get him to sign his most recent book in London last year. If I'd known he was in Edinburgh I'd have been there in a shot. Happy Birthday Ray. The Master.
-
Thanks for posting this Harry. What fantastic worlds he has given us to go and experience in the cinema. One of my fondest childhood memories is The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and the sheer mix of excitement and fear anytime anything Harryhausen had touched hit the screen, be it the Cyclops-Centaur or the astonishing Griffin or the truly creepy scene in which the statue on the ship tears loose on the crew that movie sealed my affection for stop motion at a young age.
-
Great guy, sure. But what a lost opportunity for genre films. This guy spent 40 years re-making the same film over and over. It was all about the little stick figures.
-
I had an opportunity to meet him when he got his star on the walk of fame. I got to sit next to Frank Darabont and Ray Bradbury, which was very cool. I thought it was interesting that Rick Baker and Stan Winston were both there as observers to what I imagine was one of their insprirations. I got to meet him right away and probably told him something uninspiring like "I miss your scent."
-
You were there when it all began, Jason & the Argonauts was the second stop motion picure I ever saw, though you worked on the first too, King Kong. Ever since I've haunted bookstores and magazine stands looking for more information and it always staggered me how often your name would crop up. Ever since I started collecting movies since the halcyon days of VHS in the very early eighties your work has been a staple of my library, shown to my own kids (on disc, these days) to the same open mouthed wonderment I had. Happy birthday to you, you're kind of like a favourite uncle. The one who always tells the best stories.
-
Thanks for all the awesome critters.
-
A gentleman and a scholar
-
Love you Ray!That video had a lot of stuff I've never seen before. I really dug the lion versus the lizard man, and the lady getting fed to the little pterodactyl babies. That music was a niace accompaniment as well.
-
Although he should've done more scifi flicks not just giant animals. The stop motion of Terminator 1 endoskeleton scenes and the failed Robocop 2 test robots were awesome and i wish there were more creepy horror style robot stop motion.
-
to the grandfather of special effects.
-
my hero!
-
RobinP wrote; "You were there when it all began, Jason & the Argonauts was the second stop motion picure I ever saw, though you worked on the first too, King Kong."
Ray didn't work on KONG...but it was one of his inspirations.
-
How many Saturday afternoons were fueled by watching Ray Harryhausen movies? I still remember falling deeply in love with "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" when that huge walrus emerged from the ice. They truly don't make movies like that anymore, and I think it's a shame. There seems to be a lack of wonder and personality in the 21st century versions of his kind of movie.
-
and tx for your monsters.as a kid i watched a lot of your monster-films in the tv with sinbad being one of my favs.take care sir.
-
If he was still in his prime and had done the FX for LOTR. I'd love to see that.
-
I got to meet him once when he lectured at the Portland Art Museum many years ago. What a nice man! He got a standing ovation after his lecture and was thanked multiple times for being a big part of many people's childhood. I was was finally brave enough to meet him and shake his hand. If ever there was a legend in the film industry he's it.
-
Some school chums and I had the pleasure of interviewing him on tape for a college project on animation about 20 years ago and it turned out to be one of the best days of my life, just getting to meet and talk with him at his home about his career. He was so sweet and helpful and was even kind enough to sign my prized CFQ Harryhausen issues. Complete fanboy meltdown :) Yeah, I'll never forget that day. I raise a glass to you, a legend of cinema and a true gentleman to boot, God bless you and many happy returns to you Sir.
-
He has been an inspiration for many years. So much so, I continue to work on my film, http://galacticraiders.net/
Here is a clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsdFSg_vvK0
-
...that I shook Ray's magical animating hand - when he was just a spry 85-year old. Happy birthday, Mr. Harryhausen! Here's to hoping we celebrate your centennial!
-
I know you get this a lot, but thanks for making my childhood so magical. I remember being 5 and watching The Golden Voyage of Sinbad with my Dad, on a Saturday afternoon in NJ. I'll never forget Kali the 6 armed statue that comes to life. My eyes lit up! Here's a toast to you Ray Harryhausen!
-
Easily one of the highlights of college was meeting you and getting a signed DVD. Here's to many more birthdays and thank you so much for the inspiration. :)
-
May we all live live such a life!
-
you're wrong. When JURASSIC PARK started out, it was to be an enormous GO-MOTION feature - and that's what Phil Tippett was doing on the film. Then Denis Muren did his tests with CG... and GO-MOTION went. Phil was about to quit JURASSIC PARK, when he figured out the armature animation input system-a-gig. Watch the full on making of JURASSIC PARK - you'll see that GO-MOTION was a part, until it was no longer a part.
-
Jason and the argonauts and the Sinbad movies changed my life. Thank you Ray.
-
simply because they remind us of simpler times, better times. There are things we see in our past with rose colored glasses, that were nothing special in the first place. And then there are artists. You, Mr Harryhausen, are one of the artists. There's a certain humanity to your creations. And no matter how advanced the technology becomes (and surely there will be artists in CG) nothing will ever take the beauty from your creations. The beauty AND the love and genuine care that comes across in your creations. Happy Birthday, master of all things stop-motion. May you have 100 more.
-
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=136662999692610&ref=mf
Replace Steve carell with Rib Corddry on the OFFICE
Join the page and lets see if we can pull a betty white here. -
Jun 30, 2010 12:13:57 AM CDT
My favorite special effects guy. Happy Birthday sir.
by allpowerfulwizardofoz
No one and I mean no one even comes close to RRH. Fuck CGI in the ass. Bring back the old school!! I dare someone to make a movie in that fashion again because no one has the balls to. Fucking shame too :(
-
I like that even more than stop motion!
-
All the best Mr. Harryhausen! Thank you for all the years of wonder. : )
-
love jason and the argonauts
-
Because they were experimenting in those early years. They were more inspired and ambitious. Today CG has become like a tomato can factory, churning out CG effects by the millions. Stop-Motion never turned into that. Every film was a new challenge for Ray Harryhausen. He had to figure out how to tackle a new creature. That makes you more creative and ambitious. Today they have a team of 1000's working on a CG effect and they don't feel intimidated by the work ahead of them. They know they can do it. The computers will save them.
-
Jun 30, 2010 1:44:54 AM CDT
Fuck the drums, Harry!!! Should be Bernard Herrmann music!!!!!!!
by jonchambers
-
Once you saw cheap CG on shows like seaQuest and stuff, that's when people started to accept poor CG instead of good CG.
-
You are a living legend. You are the man that gave me my love of movies and an appreciation of the work behind the camera at a very young age.
-
I grew up watching your work, and you've inspired my imagination ever since. You are a legend sir...a legend.
-
God bless you, sir. You made growing up fun.
-
was a wonderfully emotional event, John Landis hosted it with guests present like Rick Baker, Peter Jackson (who brought some of his teenage home movies to show), Randy Cook, Phil Tippett, Dennis Muren, Caroline Munro and others and as well as filmed messages from Spielberg, Lucas, Cameron, Darabont (from the set of Walking Dead) and a Ray Bradbury one that reduced everyone to joyful tears. Everyone hung out afterwards to sign stuff and chat with fans. It was a magical evening.
-
really....retarded...completely
a fuckin samba? -
The way you've written it, it reads as though Go-Motion was devised by Muren for JURASSIC PARK, which it wasn't. The technique was pioneered as I said above. EMPIRE STRIKES BACK / DRAGONSLAYER / the first two ROBOCOP films - all go-motion animation-heavy. I did clarify in the second posting that stop-motion was tested (which we all know) for JP. I thought I'd covered all eventualities there. Ah well. At least I've convinced myself to re-read the Bradbury novel though.
-
Obvious how much of a influence he has been on more modern cinema in the design of "monsters" and action sequences.
There is an exhibition all about Ray in London on right now where many of the orginal models can be seen "Myths and Legends" at London Film Museum -
Yes...? ON YOUR F'ING KNEES!
-
I'm listening to Ray Charles right now...."Let's go get Stoned" and "One Mint Julip"...hope you have a great day, and thanks for the memories!
-
owned Clash of The Titans. That was his crowning achievement, and he left the playing field on top of his game. Happy Birthday Ray.
-
CGI like fatty food, in moderation is great. Overuse results in poor health of the body and films. Stop motion takes much more effort than CGI which is why you've never heard of overuse or using it as a substitute for a plot.
-
i would love to be the one who points to sam worthington and say how CGI medusa was piece of crap. thats what he thought of the original.
-
... is what makes his work so special. Ray was an individual creating his art and his vision, which is why his characters have SOUL. Modern CG creatures are designed, created and animated by committees, which is why they are generally SOULLESS.
Happy birthday Ray! Thanks for all the inspiration you gave me as a child and giving my art a purpose. -
I think they DID give Ray a beyond-well-deserved nonorary Oscar. It was presented to him by Tom Hanks, IF I'm not mistaken.
-
i didnt know. sometimes in the clips package, they dont show all the awards at the oscars, not the minor ones.
-
Animating clay figures with my super 8 camera. Never did much, but just blurring a single frame every few frames really smoothed things out quite a bit. Compared to not doing it. Those were the days. What a blast. I wanted to be the guy.
-
Harryhausen is a genius. A visionary. And he wants to leave his creations to the National Media Museum in Yorkshire, England, too. What a guy! All hail the master! All hail Ray Harryhausen!
-
First off, let me state this for the record...as a kid growing up (just like Harry and a number of other people who contribute or are fans of this site) I was a HUGE Ray Harryhausen fan and his stopmotion animation captured my imagination whith all of the amazing creatures he brought to life in a wide range of terrific Sci-Fi/Fantasy films that were part of my Childhood and I know he was also highly influential with a number of modern day Special Effects genius' as well.
However, I remember how when I was a 9 year kid attending a Star Trek/Sci Fi Convention in the SF Bay Area and Ray Harryhausen was walking around one of the rooms that was selling all kinds of sci-fi stuff (Comics, trading cards, posters, movie cards etc, etc...)...here I was this HUGE fan albeit a geeky little sci-fi kid...and I was so excited to see a legend walking around (with his wife at his side), so I swallows my fear and nervousness and approached the special effects God himself and I said..."Hi Mr. Harryhausen! Could I um please get your autograph? I am a BIG fan of your stuff"...I extended a pen and movie card I had purchased earlier of a 7th Voyage of Sinbad scence with the Cyclops in it. And as he was writing his autograph, I asked him the only question that could come to my youn mind at the time.."What was it like doing all the effects for movies like Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad and Clash of The Titans?"....his repsonse was..."What do YOU think?! It was bloody HARD that what it was!!" handing the paper and pen back to me and walking off with his wife. That was IT! My first and only impression of Mr. Ray Harryhausen, one of my idols in the realm of Sci-Fi/Fantasy film making...the guy who brought all of my favorite creaturs and monsters to life on celluloid..and he was a complete and utter Dick to me and a mean old man.
Maybe I caught up to him on a bad day, maybe he haad argued previously with his wife or the convention show higher-ups or maybe he just didn't like little kids who were nervous coming up to him asking him for autographs.
I don't know...but ever since I have thought of him as a mean old man...just my two cents worth -
First off, let me state this for the record...as a kid growing up (just like Harry and a number of other people who contribute or are fans of this site) I was a HUGE Ray Harryhausen fan and his stopmotion animation captured my imagination whith all of the amazing creatures he brought to life in a wide range of terrific Sci-Fi/Fantasy films that were part of my Childhood and I know he was also highly influential with a number of modern day Special Effects genius' as well.
However, I remember how when I was a 9 year kid attending a Star Trek/Sci Fi Convention in the SF Bay Area and Ray Harryhausen was walking around one of the rooms that was selling all kinds of sci-fi stuff (Comics, trading cards, posters, movie cards etc, etc...)...here I was this HUGE fan albeit a geeky little sci-fi kid...and I was so excited to see a legend walking around (with his wife at his side), so I swallows my fear and nervousness and approached the special effects God himself and I said..."Hi Mr. Harryhausen! Could I um please get your autograph? I am a BIG fan of your stuff"...I extended a pen and movie card I had purchased earlier of a 7th Voyage of Sinbad scence with the Cyclops in it. And as he was writing his autograph, I asked him the only question that could come to my youn mind at the time.."What was it like doing all the effects for movies like Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad and Clash of The Titans?"....his repsonse was..."What do YOU think?! It was bloody HARD that what it was!!" handing the paper and pen back to me and walking off with his wife. That was IT! My first and only impression of Mr. Ray Harryhausen, one of my idols in the realm of Sci-Fi/Fantasy film making...the guy who brought all of my favorite creaturs and monsters to life on celluloid..and he was a complete and utter Dick to me and a mean old man.
Maybe I caught up to him on a bad day, maybe he haad argued previously with his wife or the convention show higher-ups or maybe he just didn't like little kids who were nervous coming up to him asking him for autographs.
I don't know...but ever since I have thought of him as a mean old man...just my two cents worth -
... as Harryhousen is 40 years from now? Which of the CGI people of today will be foundly remembered, respected and loved as Harryhausen is?
-
Harryhausen and Hitchcock. Ironic that some of their best films used the glorious scores of Bernard Herrmann. Continued health , sir.BTW, in response to Arcangel's post, I have heard similar stories about Mr. Harryhausen's attitude in public. Can anyone else verify that?
-
I've had the privilege of meeting Mr. Harryhausen as well and have seen him make a few public appearances. He is all class and was a formative influence on my imagination.
-
Stop Motion has always looked fake to me.
I know, I'll probably get flamed for that, but the truth of the matter is, I could always see the jitter, always see the separation.
Now when I was a kid, and that was all there was, I didn't mind that. But nowadays, stop-motion is part of what dates effects for me in a movie.
Some people don't seem to realize that before there was bad CGI, there was bad optical effects. While even bad optical effects had the virtue of being organic in their lighting (as an amateur CG artist, I'm well aware of the issues with CG and lighting)they also have the full capability to look like they just don't belong.
So, while it I can duly tip my hat to what Harryhausen did, I cannot say that somehow stop-motion is pure and good and everything. It has the look of obvious artifice. I prefer something that looks more natural, and that can move around in real space, rather than being an obvious set piece. -
Happy Birthday!
-
I would take every one of Harryhausen's 'fake looking' movies over some cinematic turd of a CGI movie such as Battlefield Earth. Harryhausen did not just make great effects, he made great and wildly entertaining movies that defied the effects. And to a Harryhausen lover - like myself, there is something very pure about what he accomplished. Regarding the 'fake' look of the effects, I would take 1933 Kong (I know that is not his) over every other Kong ever made.
-
I have to say that his UFO design and animation for Earth Vs Flying Saucers is pure and simple and truly great. I'm sure Burton acknowledged them in Mars Attacks.
-
Had the good fortune to see Harryhausen at a New York con during the 80s. Happy B-day!
-
In 1992 Ray Harryhausen finally achieved film immortality with an honorary Oscar, and in 2003 received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, right outside where it all started - Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Long-overdue tributes to the one name that personifies visual magic!
-
Earth Vs Flying is one of the few UFO films of that era, that actually used special effects for the UFOs. It also shows the destruction of Washington DC. How many films did that back then?
-
was when Tom Hanks said when classic fims like Gone With The Wind are mentioned, Jason And The Argonauts should be also. And Harryhausen's old friend Ray Bradbury was on stage to hand him the award. Nice touch.
-
Can you give any more details on that exhibition?
what models are on display?
The movie museum website is a bit vague on the content of the exhibition, -
Mr. H's stop-motion creatures fascinated, frightened and mesmerized me for hours on end when I was a kid! I still love to watch them. His Medusa is much creepier and more menacing than the newer CGI version in COTT.
-
Jun 30, 2010 10:50:52 PM CDT
The point LORDOFLIGHT is that directors think
by grammaton cleric binks
CGI can be used as a substitute for a good storyline, and that is not the case.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- A hot redhead (not Harry) is set to play lead in Fede Alvarez's remake of EVIL DEAD! -- 166 total posts 166 posts
- UPDATED: Talkbacker Bob Orci tweets STAR TREK old set pics! -- 243 total posts 87 posts
- The Friday Docback Spelunks 'The Caves Of Androzani'!! DOCTOR WHO Story #136, And More!! -- 90 total posts 81 posts
- RIDDICK Sequel Details Via A New Press Release!! -- 84 total posts 73 posts
- Here Comes THE GODMOTHER! -- 71 total posts 71 posts
- Rest In Peace Ben Gazzara -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- INSIDIOUS-ER? -- 120 total posts 42 posts
- ABC Has Cast The Lead In Its Future Nuclear Nation Pilot!! And They’ve Chosen Wisely!! -- 39 total posts 39 posts
- The Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day, you bitch! You never backed away from anything in your life! Now fight! FIGHT! -- 136 total posts 37 posts
- AWAKE, This Season’s Best Broadcast Pilot, Gets NBC’s Old ER Slot March 1!! THE FIRM To Burn Off On Saturdays!! -- 37 total posts 37 posts