What do you think of when you hear these films’ names: “Clash of the Titans,” “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,” “Mysterious Island” and “Jason and the Argonauts”?
No. Wait. Perhaps the better question to ask is: WHO do you think of when I mention “Mighty Joe Young,” “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger” and “The Valley of Gwangi”? If you’re a serious movie buff, there’s only one name that comes to mind whenever you mention that many stop motion masterpieces. And that name is Ray Harryhausen.
For nearly a quarter of a century (1949 – 1981), Ray was Hollywood’s go-to guy whenever cyclops, skeletons & saber-toothed needed to be brought to life. But Harryhausen was more than just a special effects wizard. Working with his longtime production partner, Charles N. Schneer, Ray turned out a string of dynamite fantasy films. Which — fittingly enough — featured a vast amount of creatures that were brought to life through the magic of the dynamation process (I.E. One tiny move at a time).
It was the dynamation process that fascinated all of us animation fans. Which is why we watched these movies over and over, sometimes frame by frame, just to see if we could try & learn Ray’s secrets. To see if we — just like Harryhausen — could eventually figure out how to breath life into these tiny wire armatures which were covered with rubber & fur.
Well, if you’re one of those guys who spent hours trying to figure out how Ray made Joe Young so Mighty, how Harryhausen was able to bring that living, breathing Beast up from 20,000 Fathoms … Have I got news for you?! The wizard has thrown open the door to his workshop. The master of stop motion is finally revealing all of his secrets in one beautifully illustrated volume, “Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life” (Billboard Books, June 2004).
You know what’s truly great about this book? Thanks to the efforts of Harryhausen’s co-writer, Tony Dalton, Ray’s real personality comes through. I mean, here is a man with almost no ego. Harryhausen isn’t one of those Hollywood types who belives in puffery & self-promotion. He’d rather just talk about the work and — more importantly — the people who initially inspired him.
Which is why “Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life” features all of these great stories about Willis O’Brien. The FX legend who brought “King Kong” to life back in 1933. This was the epic fantasy film that actually inspired Harryhausen to get into the stop motion animation biz. Where — as it turns out — it was Willis himself who first taught Ray the real secrets of the trade.
There’s this great story in the book where Harryhausen visits O’Brien at MGM back in 1938. Back when Willis was hard at work on “War Eagles,” the legendary-if-never-produced action epic that was to have featured Viking warriors who lived in the Arctic and rode through the skies on the backs of enormous flying eagles.
It was that afternoon — as he walked through O’Brien’s studio and looked at all of this eye-popping pre-production work for “War Eagles” — that Ray caught the stop motion bug and bad. More to the point, it was Willis who — after viewing Harryhausen’s home-made movies of dinosaurs & cave bears — who initially recognized Ray’s talent. Who gave the young film-maker his first shot at the big leagues nearly 10 years later when O’Brien hired Harryhausen to be part of his FX team on RKO’s “Mighty Joe Young.”
And — once Ray got his shot — he never looked back … Well, that’s not entirely true. In this book, Harryhausen definitely looks back. He talks about movies that he almost got to work on (EX: The never produced sequel to “Mighty Joe Young,” “Mighty Joe Young Meets Tarzan”), projects that he tried to get off the ground (Like “The Elementals,” which was to have featured a race of bat-like creatures who take over Paris & then roost in the Eiffel Tower) as well as the movies that he wished had turned out differently (Ray seems particular disappointed with the way that “Mysterious Island” turned out. About all the effects & creatures that Harryhausen wanted to bring to life in that 1961 Columbia Pictures release, but couldn’t because of that film’s tight budget).
Ray also shares great stories about some of the actors that he worked with. How Raquel Welch tried to apply method acting to her role in “One Million B.C.” Only to be told by the director: “That’s very nice dear. But I’d like you to start at Rock A, cross to Rock B and then smile.”
And — speaking of hot actresses — how about that story about the making of “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.” In which all of the live action scenes that were supposedly set in the Arctic were actually shot in the Pyrenees in 110 degree weather. Which is why Jane Seymour only wore this skimp little bikini under that thick fur coat.
You’ll find a picture of Ms. Seymour flashing the camera, revealing the micro-bikini under all that fur, in “Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life.” But — more importantly — you’ll find hundreds of Ray’s own drawings. These beautiful detailed pre-production sketches & storyboards. Which clearly shows all the art that went into Harryhausen’s special effects artistry.
It’s these drawings — that reveal the months & months of preparation that went into the production of each picture — that I think will really get the serious film fans out three drooling. (Okay, admittedly there will be more than a few of us who will drool over that picture of Jane Seymour too. But it’s Harryhausen’s pictures that are the real draw here.)
Seriously, folks. If you have a movie buff that you need to get a birthday present for, this is the book that you really want them. “Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life” is sure to bring them hours of joy.
Just like Ray’s movies used to do.