MoviePropCollector
07-03-2007, 06:03 PM
One of my favorite (I have a few), effects artists, is Ray Harryhausen.
His stop motion art always fascinated me as a kid, and still does so today. I remember being amazed by the "Sinbad" movies, and I actually believed that the characters he created and animated were living, breathing creatures.
Ray was born in Los Angeles, June 29, 1920 in Los Angeles California.
The original "King Kong" inspired Ray to begin experimenting with his own stop motion models.
One of the first characters he created as a young boy, was a cave bear, which used fur from his mothers fur coat. During this time, Ray practiced stop motion filming with a friends 16 mm camera in his garage at home.
He went to school for sculpture and drawing to learn more about the art that would take him on a long journey that continues today.
In 1940 he started his first film, "Evolution", based on the origin of life. Ray showed his footage of "Evolution" to George Pal, another pioneer in stop motion art, and George was so impressed with the film that he hired Ray.
In 1942 Ray was drafted in the Army and with his artistic and creative talents, worked within the film unit.
Then in 1946, Willis O'Brien, the creator of the film Ray loved, "King Kong," asked Harryhausen if he would like to assist in the production of "Mighty Joe Young", a film created by the makers of "King Kong". "Mighty Joe Young" was a hit, and in 1949 it won the Oscar for best special effects.
During 1953, Ray worked on "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", his first feature film.
Ray also worked on many "Mother Goose Fairy Tales", that were a huge success.
In 1955 he worked on the famous Octopus, in Charles H. Schneer's, "It Came From Beneath the Sea".
Harryhausen and Schneer also worked together in the 1950's on, "Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers" (1956), and "20 Million Miles to Earth" (1957) .
Ray created one of his many well known films, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" in 1958 . He continued to make Sinbad Movies well into the 1970's.
Nobody can forget Ray's film, "Jason and the Argonauts" (1963), which featured one of the most realistic, time consuming stop motion animation sequences in movie history, the skeleton dueling scene.
At the 1992 sixty-fourth Academy Awards, Ray received an Oscar for lifetime achievement.
In 2003, Ray was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
During 2005, Ray released a series of limited-edition, signed and numbered prints of his pre-production artwork
Ray also released a great book in 2006 called, The Art of Ray Harryhausen.
Currently Ray is still busy with many projects. We are very fortunate to have all of his creations and are eagerly anticipating what he creates in the future.
His stop motion art always fascinated me as a kid, and still does so today. I remember being amazed by the "Sinbad" movies, and I actually believed that the characters he created and animated were living, breathing creatures.
Ray was born in Los Angeles, June 29, 1920 in Los Angeles California.
The original "King Kong" inspired Ray to begin experimenting with his own stop motion models.
One of the first characters he created as a young boy, was a cave bear, which used fur from his mothers fur coat. During this time, Ray practiced stop motion filming with a friends 16 mm camera in his garage at home.
He went to school for sculpture and drawing to learn more about the art that would take him on a long journey that continues today.
In 1940 he started his first film, "Evolution", based on the origin of life. Ray showed his footage of "Evolution" to George Pal, another pioneer in stop motion art, and George was so impressed with the film that he hired Ray.
In 1942 Ray was drafted in the Army and with his artistic and creative talents, worked within the film unit.
Then in 1946, Willis O'Brien, the creator of the film Ray loved, "King Kong," asked Harryhausen if he would like to assist in the production of "Mighty Joe Young", a film created by the makers of "King Kong". "Mighty Joe Young" was a hit, and in 1949 it won the Oscar for best special effects.
During 1953, Ray worked on "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", his first feature film.
Ray also worked on many "Mother Goose Fairy Tales", that were a huge success.
In 1955 he worked on the famous Octopus, in Charles H. Schneer's, "It Came From Beneath the Sea".
Harryhausen and Schneer also worked together in the 1950's on, "Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers" (1956), and "20 Million Miles to Earth" (1957) .
Ray created one of his many well known films, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" in 1958 . He continued to make Sinbad Movies well into the 1970's.
Nobody can forget Ray's film, "Jason and the Argonauts" (1963), which featured one of the most realistic, time consuming stop motion animation sequences in movie history, the skeleton dueling scene.
At the 1992 sixty-fourth Academy Awards, Ray received an Oscar for lifetime achievement.
In 2003, Ray was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
During 2005, Ray released a series of limited-edition, signed and numbered prints of his pre-production artwork
Ray also released a great book in 2006 called, The Art of Ray Harryhausen.
Currently Ray is still busy with many projects. We are very fortunate to have all of his creations and are eagerly anticipating what he creates in the future.