Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen (born June 29, 1920 in Los Angeles, California) is an American producer and, most notably, a special effects creator.

Related Topics:
June 29 - 1920 - Los Angeles, California - American - Special effects

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Before the advent of computers and CGI, movies used a variety of approaches to achieve animated special effects. One approach was stop-motion animation, used famously in King Kong (1933). The work of Willis O'Brien in Kong inspired Harryhausen to work in this field.

Related Topics:
CGI - Stop-motion - King Kong - Willis O'Brien

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From his first demo reel, of fighting dinosaurs from an abortive project called Evolution, Harryhausen found work with Paramount, working on George Pal's Puppetoon shorts. During the war he worked for the Army Motion Picture Unit. From this work, he acquired several million feet of unused film on which he made a series of fairy tale based shorts. This work led him to his first major film, Mighty Joe Young (1949) and then The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953). It was on the Warner stage that he first used split-screen projection, allowing his miniature figures to apparently interact with real actors.

Related Topics:
George Pal - Army Motion Picture Unit - Fairy tale - Mighty Joe Young - The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms - Warner - Split-screen

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Harryhausen then moved to Columbia and began a fruitful partnership with Charles H. Schneer. Their first release was It Came From Beneath The Sea (1956), but the first proper result was The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958) which Harryhausen also wrote. Always working alone on his effects, it often took a long time for his movies to be made.

Related Topics:
Columbia - It Came From Beneath The Sea - The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad

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After 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) and The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960), his next success was with his masterwork?Jason and the Argonauts (1963), which features an extended fight between the actors and a group of skeletal adversaries, a considerable advance on the fight scene in Sinbad. The fight scene in the Jason and the Argonauts took over four months to complete.

Related Topics:
20 Million Miles to Earth - The Three Worlds of Gulliver - Jason and the Argonauts

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Harryhausen then worked for Hammer Films, demonstrating his skill on parts of One Million Years B.C. (1966), the Cinemascope First Men in the Moon (1964), and then The Valley of Gwangi (1969).

Related Topics:
Hammer Films - One Million Years B.C. - Cinemascope - First Men in the Moon - The Valley of Gwangi

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He returned to mythology in the 1970s with The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), and the last film to show his miniature work, Clash of the Titans (1981), for which he was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Special Effects.

Related Topics:
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad - Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger - Clash of the Titans - Saturn Award

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Despite his pioneering work, he was not rewarded by the film community until 1992 when he was given the Gordon E. Sawyer Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The award recognizes "an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry." Harryhausen has also been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Related Topics:
1992 - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - Hollywood Walk of Fame

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The 2001 Pixar/Disney film Monsters, Inc. pays tribute to Ray by placing its characters in a sushi restaurant named "Harryhausen's".

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Tim Burton's 2005 film The Corpse Bride also contains a tribute to Ray. The Piano in the Everglot's front parlor bears the brand name of "Harry Hausens."

Related Topics:
Tim Burton - The Corpse Bride

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In the director's commentary on the DVD of , director Peter Jackson stated that he paid homage to Harryhausen during the scene where a giant cave troll attacks the Fellowship. He based the troll on Harryhausen's monsters and many of their movements, as seen in Harryhausen's effects shots.

Related Topics:
DVD - Peter Jackson

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As of 2005, he lives in London.

Related Topics:
2005 - London

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He was a life long friend of author Ray Bradbury.

Related Topics:
Author - Ray Bradbury

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See also: , Bubo

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