Stop-Motion Pioneer Ray Harryhausen Is Gone

Karloff

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Oct 19, 2009
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Stop-Motion Pioneer Ray Harryhausen Is Gone



Tributes pour in after the death of animation genius Harryhausen.

Ray Harryhausen, special effects genius and stop motion animation pioneer, has died. Harryhausen, a multi-award winner, was a creative giant whose fantasy work inspired many other filmmakers, including such luminaries as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Guillermo Del Toro, Peter Jackson and James Cameron. His death, at his London residence, was announced by his family earlier today; he was 92 years old.

Harryhausen, born in Los Angeles in 1920, started experimenting with animation in the 1930s, and kicked off his career working with Willis O'Brien, the man who animated King Kong. Harryhausen became O'Brien's protégé, and went on to create some of fantasy and horror's iconic film moments. Jason and the Argonauts (1963) is probably his best known work; the tremendous fight scene between Greek hero Jason and the relentless skeletal warriors is one of Harryhausen's most memorable sequences. When presenting Harryhausen with a special Academy Award, Tom Hanks called Jason "the greatest film ever made!" But it was Arabian Nights style action [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366063/filmotype]. He was the king of stop motion; without his inspiration, Lucas and Jackson both admit, there probably wouldn't have been a Star Wars, or a Lord of the Rings.

"Harryhausen's genius was in being able to bring his models alive," said Harryhausen's family in a official site [http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ray-and-Diana-Harryhausen-Foundation/125012827632564].


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Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Jul 18, 2009
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Looks like the motion stopped for old Ray.

I'll always remember his awesome Medusa.
 

JamesBr

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Nov 4, 2010
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Clash of the Titans is one of my earliest film-related memories and remains one of my favourite movies. Gonna have to watch it again in honour of this passing legend.
 

TheRightToArmBears

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Dec 13, 2008
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Well that's sad. I love the creepy way that stop-motion monsters move, like the skeletons in Jason or the Terminator in the first Terminator. I appreciate it's not necessarily realistic, but it's creepy as hell.
 

Sixcess

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A genuine legend, and the first behind-the-camera filmmaker I was ever aware of. Long before I took note of writers or directors I'd always know I had something to look forward to when I saw Ray Harryhausen's name in the opening titles.

RIP, Ray. There's a magic to your work that will never die.
 

Dr.Awkward

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Mar 27, 2013
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Today is a sad day. Even if stop-motion isn't realistic in most cases, it usually falls on the good side of the uncanny valley.

Hopefully nobody decides to "honor" Harryhausen by recreating him as a CG hologram, though...
 

BaronIveagh

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Apr 26, 2011
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Requescat in Pace.

Hopefully no one decides to honor him by having a stop motion skeleton jump up out of his grave on youtube.
 

the December King

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Mar 3, 2010
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Jason's battle with the skeleton warriors is still magical.

The man has helped define special effects and creature effects in film. His influence will never fade!
 

Daniel Laeben-Rosen

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Jun 9, 2010
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Makes me genuinely sad... so in honor of him I'm sitting here, watching the original Clash Of The Titans on BluRay with a nice cup of tea.
It was one of my favourite movies growing up, and I still love it. Calibos, Medusa, the Kraken or even that freaky giant Vulture are just timeless inspirations for me...
 

One of Many

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Feb 3, 2010
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Well, now I am sad. Excuse me, I'm going to curl up and watch all of my Ray Harryhausen movies.
 

Albino Boo

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Froggy Slayer said:
Now that's just upsetting. End of an era, to be honest. RIP.
I entirely agree an end of era. Ray Harryhausen, despite the technical limitations, made his creations seem real. Thats something that modern cgi lacks
 

TheBlueRabbit

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Jan 9, 2009
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The passing of one of the truly legendary pioneers of special effects. I literally shed a few tears when I read this. RIP Mr. Harryhausen. Thank you for so many wonderful cinematic memories. You will always have a special place in my heart.

I can't remember how to embed a video in my post, so I'll just give the link.

http://youtu.be/U9kmjW73-v4

It's a wonderful compilation of Ray's work, although the drumming it's set to can get a little grating after a couple of minutes.