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Date of Birth
Ray Harryhausen was born the 29th of June, 1920, in Los Angeles, California. Since his birth, Harryhausen has had a deep passion for dinosaurs and anything fantasy. His parents both encouraged him to follow his dreams and even supported them. -
"King Kong"
In 1933, when Harryhausen was 13 years old, his parents took him to see "King Kong." This sparked a series of questions revolving around the film, and ultimately his experiments in stop-motion films. Using marionattes, Harryhausen tried to mimic what he had seen in the film. -
Early experiments
Between 1935 and 1936, Harryhausen experimented using various methods of animation. Many of his short films involved dinosaurs, his favourite animal.
Many of Harryhausens' models are sock and ball armatures covered in a menagerie of different things: fur, clay, feathers, you name it. He used a 16mm Kodak in his early works, but soon had to progress when newer technology arrived. -
"Mother Goose Stories"
After multiple bouts of trial and error, Harryhausen decided to create his own independant films. These short films, created using ball and socket armatures, were based around various nursery rhymes. -
"Mighty Joe Young"
In 1947, Harryhausen was hired on as an assitant by Merian C. Cooper, creator of "King Kong" (1933). He did most of the initial work on the production, but was only congratulated by the director. -
"The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms"
In 1953 Harryhausen was ofered his first full film production. The movie, originally titled "The Monster From Under the Sea," was the first film to incorporate split-screen filming to insert animated figures with live-action film. (later known as Dynamation.) -
"It Came From Beneath The Sea"
"It Came From Beneath The Sea" was another sci-fi and monster film. Fun Fact: the octopus in the movie was only built with six tentacles, so in film they made many of the shots involving the octopus half-covered in water. -
"The Animal World"
"The Animal World" (1956) gave Harryhausen the chance to once again animate dinosaurs, and work alongside old buddy Obie. Unfortunately. this would end up being the last time the two got to work together. However they kept in touch for many years after. -
"20 Million Miles To Earth"
In the early draft of the story, co-written by Harryhausen and Charlotte Knight, the movie was to take place in (pressumably) America. But, Harryhausen wished to see Italy, so they changed the location and set to work. This movie ended up being Harryhausens' final film in black & white.
The creature featured in the film was dubbed 'Ymir' by Harryhausen. For the Ymir, he built a 20 inch high armature and a partial armature. -
"The 7th Voyage of Sinbad"
One of Harryhausen's most recognized and highly grossing films. It incorporated Dynamation, and was shot in colour (which gave Harryhausen a major headache.) It took 11 months for the film to be animated. The armature used for Ymir of "20 MIllions Miles to Earth" was cannibalised for the cyclops.
The skeleton fight featured in the film was praised so much by audiences that another was featured in "Jason and the Argonauts" -
"Mysterious Island"
An artist success, "Mysterious Island" was losely based off the novel by the same name. The crab in the film was made from the shell of an actual crab, and an armature that was made to fit inside the shell. -
"Jason and the Argonauts"
Considered by many to be Harryhausen's masterwork, "jason and the Argonauts" is based off of ancient Greek mythology. The skeleton fight sequence in the film took 4 and a half months to animate, but only equaled a scene of four minutes and thirty seconds. It is estimated that Harryhausen executed over 184,800 movements.
Originally a box-office flop, this movie is now regarded as one of the greatest classic fantasy movies. -
"One Million Years B.C"
Based on a film created in the 1940s, this was monumental for Harryhausen because it was the first movie he made for someone other than his long-time employer Charles Schneer. Harryhausen also used actual animals to supplement some of the 'dinosaurs' in the film. -
"The Valley of Gwangi"
Based on idwas originally created by Willis O'Brien, Harryhausen's long-time friend, "The Valley of Gwangi" used a 'monster stick' for live-action shots involving the dinosaurs. THe monster stick was as the name suggests: a long stick with an eye on the end to help the actors and actresses in filming. -
"The Golden Voyage of Sinbad"
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"Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger"
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"Clash of the Titans"
Unofficialy Harryhausen's last film, "Clash of the Titans" is the tale of Perseus and the Greek Gods. Nominated for Best Special Effects in the Saturn awards, some people consider the Medusa fight scene 'one of the best things Harryhausen has ever done.' -
Retirement and Death
After "Clash of the Titans," Harryhausen 'retired' however indulged himself in smaller projects from time to time.
IN 2013, Ray Harryhausen, father of Stop-Motion Animation, passed away at 92 years of age.
