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Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects Master, Dies Aged 92

Posted by Soulskill on from the rest-in-peace dept.

New submitter Diakoneo writes "According to the BBC, 'Visual effects master Ray Harryhausen, whose stop-motion wizardry graced such films as Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans, has died aged 92. The American animator made his models by hand and painstakingly shot them frame by frame to create some of the best-known battle sequences in cinema.' Some of my fondest cinematic memories from my youth are from Ray Harryhausen."

13 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. Wait! by He+Who+Has+No+Name · · Score: 5, Funny

    If we keep repositioning his body while everyone is blinking, maybe nobody will be able to tell he's actually dead.

    1. Re:Wait! by condition-label-red · · Score: 3, Insightful

      On one hand this is absolutely morbid...but he would have probably loved it!

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    2. Re:Wait! by asn · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Weekend at Harryhausen's?

    3. Re:Wait! by hairyfeet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh he'd have enjoyed the hell out of it! I remember seeing years ago a "masters of movie magic" about Harryhausen and Winston and you could tell by listening to their stories that they loved the hell out of their work, you got the impression they probably would have done it for free if they had to,because they just loved making the creatures come alive.

      RIP Mr Harryhausen, I think I'll fire up some Golden Voyage Of Sinbad, I was lucky enough to see that at the drive in when i was a kid and his work still looks cool. I think I cheered for every monster, especially the statue with the swords, too awesome!

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  2. Tribute to Ray Harryhausen by ElementOfDestruction · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is from the internet, and it's pretty old.

    http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/tribute/

  3. Skeleton fights! by Dr+Herbert+West · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's a great documentary about Harryhausen as well as some of the artists he inspired. It's on the Netflix for streaming, as I recall:

    The Sci-Fi Boys

    R.I.P Ray, your work with skeleton fights in "Argonauts" opened my eyes to the world of animation and all things morbid! You will be missed.

    1. Re:Skeleton fights! by SternisheFan · · Score: 4, Informative

      He was inspired as a kid by the stop-motion animation in King Kong, and later got work helping on Mighty Joe Young. I found all these interviews with the great Ray Harryhausen on YouTube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctb9N5Umqec&list=PL301A89EF78E1A4BB

  4. Re: He provided inspiration by He+Who+Has+No+Name · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yep, that was named for him.

  5. Re:In his honor... by iluvcapra · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You put the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts up against the sword-fight with the skeleton pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean and some of it is almost shot-for-shot, it was a pretty strong inspiration.

    Also: Bubo.

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  6. King Kong by __aahgmr7717 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We had one of the 3 armatures from King Kong in our closet for several years.
    My brother, Jim Danforth, knew Ray Harryhausen and did similar puppet animation
    in the '60, such as "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" and "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao".
    Harryhausen was a house hold word in our family.
     

  7. Will be missed by Forthan+Red · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sad news. I was fortunate enough to meet him back in 1981, and got his autograph. It was at an advance showing of the original Clash of the Titans, where he gave a presentation before the film. He brought some of the original figures used for Jason and the Argonauts, King Kong, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and other stop-motion classics. Despite all the computer perfection of today's CGI, it will never match the wonder I experienced when, as a kid, I first saw the battle of the skeleton warriors in Jason and the Argonauts.

  8. Re:Stop motion done right by Rakarra · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Stop-motion Jurassic park would have been like CGI Star Wars. Get it, Lucas?

    Jurassic Park was originally going to be stop-motion in wide shots (or really, go-motion like the walkers from Empire Strikes Back) and Phil Tippett was hired to oversee this. The results just weren't what Spielberg was hoping for, and then the CGI dinosaurs started to look amazing...

  9. I have to admit by CrazyBusError · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I saw the tributes coming in, I was moved.

    Then I was moved a little more.

    And I was moved a little more still...

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