Hollywood effects wizard Ray Harryhausen dies at 92
The legendary filmmaker was best known for using stop-motion model
animation in movies such as 'Jason and the Argonauts' and 'Clash of the
Titans.'
- Special-effects wizard was known for stop-motion model animation
- Influenced George Lucas and Peter Jackson, among others
- He was inspired by the original 'King Kong'
Way before movies like
Star Wars and
The Lord of the Rings inspired the imagination of film lovers everywhere, audiences were enraptured by the sword-wielding skeletons of
Jason and the Argonauts, the great ape of
Mighty Joe Young and the dinosaurs opposite Raquel Welch in
One Million Years B.C.
The man responsible for all those and much more, Hollywood
special-effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen, died Tuesday in London at the
age of 92. His family announced his death via The Ray and Diana
Harryhausen Foundation
Facebook page.
The legendary effects wizard's influence was felt both in his sci-fi
and fantasy movies as well as in the works of later filmmakers such as
George Lucas and Peter Jackson. Beginning his career in the 1940s,
Harryhausen became well known for using stop-motion model animation and
having them interact with actors in a live-action world.
"Harryhausen's genius was in being able to bring his models alive,"
said a statement on the movie icon's Facebook page. "Whether they were
prehistoric dinosaurs or mythological creatures, in Ray's hands they
were no longer puppets but became instead characters in their own
right, just as important as the actors they played against and in most
cases even more so."
Born in Los Angeles, Harryhausen first became inspired as a 13-year-old watching Willis H. O'Brien's large beast of
King King come alive via stop-motion photography in 1933. The young Harryhausen would then work with O'Brien as a technician on
Mighty Joe Young (1943) before his breakthrough 10 years later with
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, where he designed a giant rampaging lizard that attacked New York City.
Monster movies became his forte in the 1950s and '60s, and he unleashed
a wide variety of various creatures, including the gigantic
irradiated octopus of
It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955), alien spacecraft in
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), a whole island of beasties including the Cyclops in
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and a prehistoric mollusk in
Mysterious Island (1961).
Harryhausen really put actor Todd Armstrong's Greek hero through the wringer in
Jason and the Argonauts,
pitting Jason against dangerous harpies, a multi-headed hydra and
arguably Harryhausen's most famous creations, an animated army of
skeleton warriors. The swordfight between them and live actors took
Harryhausen more than four months to complete.
His final special-effects work was as a producer on the original 1981
Clash of the Titans,
which featured the memorable sea monster the Kraken (an 18-inch model
that Harryhausen used) as well as the snake-headed femme fatale
Medusa.
"I'm grateful that we made pictures that have lasted," Harryhausen told
USA TODAY in 2010. "We tried, like Greek mythology, to make them in
the classic manner."
When asked to pick a favorite, he was stumped. "I can't. The others get jealous."
Tom Hanks presented Harryhausen with a special Oscar for his lifetime of effects work in 1992. "Some people say
Casablanca or
Citizen Kane ... I say
Jason and the Argonauts is the greatest film ever made," Hanks said.
Celebrities and others known for their work in the sci-fi and fantasy
communities shared their admiration on social media Tuesday.
"I loved every single frame of Ray Harryhausen's work. He was the man
who made me believe in monsters. Glad to have met him. A true legend,"
tweetedShaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright.
Shaun star and
Star Trek Into Darkness actor Simon Pegg
tweeted:
"Ray Harryhausen an inspiration and a legend, even before he left us.
His influence cannot be measured and has shaped cinema as we know
it."
"If I believed in God, I'd want him to be like Ray Harryhausen -—
nudging us one frame at a time toward the sublime & fantastic,"
tweeted comedian and actor Patton Oswalt.
"RIP Ray Harryhausen. He was a source of inspiration, the master of stop motion, and even a voice actor in
Elf. His work still holds up,"
tweetedIron Man director and actor Jon Favreau.
Those filmmakers who grew up on his movies and later made their own have paid tribute to Harryhausen over the years.
"Ray has been a great inspiration to us all in special visual industry.
The art of his earlier films, which most of us grew up on, inspired
us so much. Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no
Star Wars," Lucas said.
"
The Lord of the Rings is my Ray Harryhausen movie. Without his
lifelong love of his wondrous images and storytelling it would never
have been made — not by me, at least," Jackson stated.
"I think all of us who are practitioners in the arts of science-fiction
and fantasy movies now all feel that we're standing on the shoulders
of a giant," said director James Cameron. "If not for Ray's
contribution to the collective dreamscape, we wouldn't be who we are."
People have also paid direct homage to Harryhausen in their films, as well. Tim Burton's stop-motion animated film
Corpse Bride featured a character playing a Harryhausen piano — instead of a Steinway — and in Pixar's
Monsters, Inc., one-eyed Mike Wazowski takes a date to a restaurant called Harryhausen's.
