Legend. Innovator. Icon. These are all words that are thrown around far too liberally in Hollywood, I used to think "They're only words, who cares", well, the trouble with using these superlatives willy nilly is that when you use them to describe a worthy recipient they lose some of their impact. Read those three words again, think of their definition...what they truly mean. I can say without reservation that Ray Harryhausen deserves these labels. Sadly the name is not known to the younger generation of casual move fans but I ensure you, wether you know it or not, he has influenced the movies you enjoy...without his contributions the summer movie season would be downright boring. Harryhausen is THE top name in stop motion animation, his brand of which was termed 'Dynamation'. Believe it or not kids, before the advent of CGI if you wanted an otherworldly creature in your film that looked even halfway believable this was the way you went.
Starting in the industry in the late 1930's and inspired by the work he saw in King Kong Ray Harryhausen spent his years bringing things to the screen that no one could imagine. The most famous example of his work is the classic scene from Jason and the Argonauts where in the hero fights seven sword wielding skeletons. Take a look at the scene and remember that this was done practically, no computers, all real.
To really hammer the point home let me explain a little about how this process works. As I said, everything is real. The movement is accomplished by moving models millimeters at a time and taking a picture at each step. Think of how you would make a flip book movie, drawing a different stage of movement on each page. Now imagine that same process but with real models and actual sets..the precision needed to acheive such life-like motion is unimaginable in today's world where everything is cheaper, faster, easier.
Filmmaker's today need only their imagination and a good computer animator...there are no physical limits to what they can achieve The true genius of Harryhausen's career is that he saw things the same way, but in a world where there was no obvious route to achieve his ends. Imagination was his only limit, through hard work and ingenuity he surpassed any and all limits the physical world tried to impose on him paving the way for future filmmakers to realize that if you can dream it there is ALWAYS a way to realize it.
Thank you Mr. Harryhausen for allowing us to experience an entirely new level of fantasy and imagination. More importantly, thank you for showing us that anything is possible with the right work ethic and level of dedication.
I leave you with a mash-up of every creature created by Ray Harryhausen, credit for the video goes to the original YouTube poster.
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