Back before computer technology changed the face of film special effects forever, creative artists did things by hand. The art of stop motion animation had been used in silent films and involved building small figures, placing them in miniature sets and taking one frame of film, moving the figure slightly, taking another frame, moving the figure slightly over and over again so that when the frames would run in sequence it would create the illusion of motion. This form of special effect reached a huge mainstream audience with the classic monster thriller King Kong in 1933. A young Ray Harryhausen saw the film and started making his own little figures using the stop motion technique to animate them on film. In 1949 after becoming quite familiar with the technique Ray got a job working on Mighty Joe Young with Kong co-creator Willis O’Brien and a legendary career was born. Since then Ray’s work continues to be often imitated but never duplicated in films like the Star Wars and Jurassic Park series. Produced in 2011 and now being distributed by Arrow, this documentary will please Ray’s hardcore fans but it also gives a fascinating look at the man’s life and astounding accomplishments that casual viewers will enjoy.
Getting valuable experience on George Pal’s Puppetoons short features and Mighty Joe Young, Harryhausen started his own creative career featuring creatures he designed with The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms inspiring Toho Studios to make Godzilla. Ray then met up with producer Charles H. Schneer who wanted to make a picture about a giant octopus that destroys San Francisco and the two started a partnership with It Came From Beneath The Sea that lasted until Ray’s final film Clash Of The Titans. Unforgettable images like the orange skinned Cyclops, the sword wielding skeletons and the Medusa are must see cinema moments.
“Ray Harryhausen’s movies made me see the monster as the hero,” says glam/metal legend Jon-Mikl Thor. “I incorporated his stop motion animation moves into my show.” One of the many great things about Ray is the influence he continues to have on film and culture. From filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Sam Raimi to rockers like Thor and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Ray’s influence is far reaching. Actor Tom Hanks when presenting Ray with his Gordon E. Sawyer Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was moved to say, “Jason and the Argonauts is the greatest film ever made!” And rocker Thor states, “I was enthralled by Mighty Joe Young and Jason and the Argonauts as a child.”
The documentary looks at Ray’s history and films in chronological order with comments in between by directors and special effects masters who grew up with Ray’s work and were deeply influenced by the man and his art. John Landis states in the documentary that to this day people associate the movements of dinosaurs with the movements Ray manipulated them to do in his films. And as Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam points out, Ray created creatures out of clay and gave them life. Since fans look at Ray’s creations like real entities one of the added plusses of the documentary is the inclusion of clips from Ray’s dailies and test footage, converted to digital by Peter Jackson. It is pure gold to see Ray setting up shots and different test cuts of the creatures we have seen over and over again but in new movements. There is also a breakdown of how Ray created his magic with rear projection and his animating table. This release is something Harryhausen fans will treasure as much as the films themselves.
