The creative team members who came out of Tim Burton and Walt Disney - Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Para Norman, then we have Aardman and all of their wonderful work.... :)
In the PIXAR movie "Monsters Inc." there was a restaurant named "Harryhausen's" in honor of the legendary animator. He was invited to the complex and everyone lined up to meet him.
@@mediocretroll2842 I actually got to meet him too. I was a kid at one of the very early Star Wars conventions and he was a guest. I was wandering around on the rather small vendor sales floor and saw him and his wife. I was surprised that no one had gone up and talked to them so I went up and asked, "Did they make you pay full price Mr. Harryhausen?" He got a big laugh out of that and gave me a pat on the shoulder. Genuinely nice guy!
What’s funny is that I tried explaining to my family the film “clash of the titans” when I was little (I didn’t know the name of the movie) they said I was crazy and probably dreamt it as there is no movie as I described. Almost 30 years latter I came across this video and saw the scene again. It made me soo happy! I knew I saw this movie in real life!!
Talos remains my favourite. The brilliant introduction to the character, its rampage against the Argonauts, topped off with the death scene. Brilliant, unequaled and with the memorable film score from Bernard Herrmann. Sheer genius.
I mean he made some good ones its hard to choose from so many, but I have to say... Talos was my favorite also, when he turned his head and looked down... that was straight out chilling.
I have to admit as a teen I really love these films I first watched the 7th voyage of Sinbad and I loved the cyclops but ow I've seen clash of the titans and jason and the argonauts and the colossus was awesome and the best imo
Someone actually intercut the original and the remake and the differences are day and night. Even if you ignore CGI vs Stop Motion, the original is a masterclass of film making where as the remake is just another generic action scene.
The Hydra as well!! Harryhausen would say it was difficult to keep track of which head he'd just been working on since there were so many, especially if he stepped away to take a phone call or something like that, lol ..
Ray Harryhausen was an absolute genius . There will never ever be anyone like him . What incredible vision he had with ALL his creatures. I am forever grateful to have been a kid watching in awe , all of his movies. But for me it was Talos Talos Talos !! The sound of the metal crunching and squealing with his movements was unforgettable and frightening as a child. To this day , every time I see a bronze statue , I can't help but to think of Talos and the pillow I clung to in front of the television. Great memories. Thank you for sharing a wonderful trip back to a simpler time. Kids today have not a clue.
I always thought the chess game in Star Wars was a nice little tribute to Ray too. It's interesting to see how influential he was to a lot of filmmakers. We wouldn't have the robot army from "Terminator" without his skeletons, that's for sure.
I was always impressed at how fluid and life-like the movements were. From the skeletons fighting and jumping to the Pegasus. The Pegasus is extremely impressive. The movement is so graceful like you’d imagine a winged horse creature to be. Man, such a great example to excellent movie history. Thanks for sharing and putting it together!!
I loved these wonderful movies as a kid. As an adult I still love them but now I also appreciate them. To realize there was a man (with massive patience) shooting one frame of film at a time just floors me. And one other thing. While CG looks more realistic, Mr. Harryhausens movies FEEL real, because you had to use your imagination. You were actually taking part in the movie. Beautiful!
@@starmnsixty1209 Thanks and yes, I love the Outer Limits. Shoestring budgets, mediocre to bad effects (remember it was the early 60's) but fantastic storylines and an unbelievable soundtrack by the great Dominic Frontiere.
I cannot imagine the time and skill it took to create those one-frame-at-a-time scenes. Harryhausen was by far, the very best ever! Pegasus was indeed his best work. Rest In Peace, Mr. Harryhausen.
Harryhausen's Skeleton were very influential on pop culture. - Skeleton soldiers in Dungeons and Dragons. - Skeleton soldiers and the arcade game Golden Axe. - Skeleton soldiers in the tabletop game Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Particularly the 1980's plastic ones. - Skeleton soldiers in the movie: Evil Dead Army of Darkness. Not just because they are skeletons. Even the shields and curved swords are often the same.
I don't know... I rate it really high myself! This video and your other Mythmaker video on Ray Harryhausen are among your best written, produced, edited and performed pieces. They are number one and two in my book... and I can't make up my mind which is which as they are both equally as good.
One foot note: at [14:39], I have never heard Janet Stevens reffered to as _"Janey Moore"_. Is that a married name? Where did you get it? www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ray-harryhausen-clash-titans-janet-499138226 In all publications where her work for Ray Harryhausen is mentioned, she is referred to as *Janet Stevens* and she is listed on IMDB that way as well (no Janet Moore is listed, other than an actress by that name). The only Janet Stevens-Moore that I could find is an American real estate agent and she is not the same woman. Janet Stevens also sculpted for Mr. Harryhausen doing several creatures for the last two Sinbad films as well as sculpting the Kraken on Clash for him from his designs, under his supervision. She was an excellent artist who also worked on the final two of the original *Star Wars* films as well as *Superman & Alien 3*.
One clarification: Janet Stevens sculpted the full figure Kraken with the tail : cdn2.newsok.biz/cache/w620-7cfa297d036c908f4abeb794e9f9f004.jpg The big, waist up version that was used for the ultra close-ups was sculpted for Ray by Lyle Conway (*The Dark Crystal, Return to Oz, Little Shop of Horrors* Frank Oz directed music remake). i1.wp.com/firstfandomexperience.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/PIX-3-Clash-of-the-Titans-Kraken.jpg?w=871&ssl=1 scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/70144858_2323459974539540_7096791496468201472_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_sid=110474&_nc_ohc=ljRs9s6etyMAX_6GO-a&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&tp=14&oh=3088d9b65b648761effc3e8e7182b755&oe=5F99644F
I'm 48 & still remember first seeing the Sinbad movies & how they affected my imagination as a child, they were my favorites. Toped off by Clash of the titans. What's even more eye opening today is how TV, movie's, & entertainment is changing our youth.
More of a shrill, piercing noise than a crunch. The sound of metal attempting to resist being forcibly bent or the sound of metal on metal as the joints rubbed together.
I have clash of the titans coming in the post, with plans to watch it with my sons. I saw it when I was his age and fell in love with it back in the day.
I'm not a geezer, I didn't grow up watching films that today are regarded as old, but I must tell you that I appreciate a well done stop motion. In my childhood days, a few of those kind of films were still exhibited on tv from time to time, and I found those effects magical for some reason I can't explain, and I still find them to be. They didn't look any realistic in comparison to other films with creatures, but somehow i enjoyed them. I can remember Clash of Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, and three or four of those Sinbad movies.
I have a ten year old and 6 year old. So far we watched Jason and the Argonauts and 7th voyage. They love this and Godzilla films. Well any monster movie really. Next is Clash of the titans!
@@Shatamx Which child does not like monster movie, right? If I'm not wrong, 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' is a remake of 'The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad'. I also remember another one entitled 'Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger'. All those are classic stop-motion adventure movies, alongside with 'Jason And The Argonauts' and, not to forget, 'Clash Of Titans' (the kids will love it, for sure). Edit: As pointed by kurtoy 20, below, 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' came after 'The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad'; thus the former is the remake of the later, not the contrary as I first wrote before editing this reply.
I have to admit that it was Talos that scared me most as a kid. I remember seeing Jason And The Argonauts on the big screen, so when Talos turned his head to look towards the sailors, that dead expression, no eyes, I’m sure I peed my pants, at least a bit. I still get that feeling when I see it today. It shows that everything doesn’t have to be a jump scare to be frightening. That’s something most modern directors could learn from. I love stop motion animation. The movements are somewhat real, but also a bit unnatural, which is why they seem surreal and magical. I think those creatures are far more chilling when they move that way. The lack of motion blur is what gives them that unnatural feel, but I don’t think those skeletons and creatures would have been as frightening without that shaky movement. I never got to see Kong on the big screen, but it had to be terrorizing when he first breaks through those trees to face Ann. These films must always be preserved because they are a time in film making we will never see again, which is too bad. Ray Harryhausen was the master of this craft, there will never be another like him.
Now that moment was a beauty to behold I was at my grandmas my whole family was there we were watching some movie sinbad the 7th voyage I thought It would be bad untill I saw the cyclops it was a beauty it was so cool it was just magical the skeleton fight was awesome and taro was awesome after that I watched clash of the titans and that was awesome seeing the stop motion krakwn and the media scene it was just awesome it had a certain feel that no modern movies have a certain aura I hope we have a stop motion movie like that with the damsel in distress the hero and his crew fighting giant monsters then everyone was at my house and we watched jason and the Argonauts selling the colossus as I called h was amazing he had blank eyes and his size and grandeur was amazing it was so real yet so unnatural it made him all the more terrifying then they fought the hydra I had been looking forward to that and it was awesome it was such an amazing scan them the skeleton army was an all round awesome scene
Supreme. "Jason and the Argonauts" is my personal fave. And when Ray Harryhausen spoke at our film school I brought up the sequel suggested at the end of it. That was enough for Ray Bradbury to send us an invitation to a "Clash of the Titans" premiere a few years later where we witnessed him introduce Fay Wray to Ray Harryhausen for the first time. Thank you from an impressed subscriber.
A great review! God, I remember seeing The Golden Voyage of Sindbad at the movie theater. Inhad seen Harryhausen films on tv, but Sindbad blew me away. I was ten. The Medusa in Clash of the Titans was infinitely better than the cgi version in the remake, just more atmosphere, and the animation gives it an otherworldly, dreamlike quality (which is why to this day I prefer the old King Kong)
As an old schooler, these monsters were high-end back in the day and all of them were frightening enough to keep families huddled up during showtime. All classics IMO(along with Ulysses) giving all characters..monsters highest of credits in regards of their role play. Quality upload! Well narrated!!
Talk about a man with the patience of Job. All those tiny little details...frame, by frame, by frame. How long did it take just to change the expression on the cyclops's face?
I agree with the host wholeheartedly about the introduction of Talos. The scene where he looks down at Hercules together with the beautiful Foley (sound) work and Bernard Herrmann's haunting music still gives me chills to this day.
Man, Ray's work on these films was just perfect. Honestly, I love the stop motion claymation like these better than most CGI films nowadays. They were very realistic. Just my own personal opinion, that's all. I loved Trog, made me sad to see him die and sacrifice himself while fighting the Sabretooth.
I saw Ray speak at an art college in Detroit, I think it was in like 2002 or 3. The room was filled with animation students. He was so nice. Even though he was already over 80 years old, he answered all of their questions and stayed as long as there were still kids asking them. He never said, well I have to go now. He was just really happy to talk about his work and pass along knowledge to people that wanted to learn. Aside from being an animation genius, he was a great human being.
Well done once again, guys! Your passion for Harryhausen is undeniable! If I was to think of another stop-motion artist whose work I love, I'd have to go with Phil Tippett. He took what Harryhausen and O'Brien did and learned from it, creating the process of go-motion (stop-motion with motion blur). From the Tauntauns and AT-ATs in Empire Strikes Back to Vermithrax Pejorative in Dragonslayer, to the AT-STs in Return of the Jedi, to ED-209 in Robocop, he showed the same love for the craft as his predecessors. It should also be noted that he was going to use go-motion for Jurassic Park before it was decided that CGI would be used. But he stayed on to help the filmmakers better realize the dinosaur scenes. He even helped the filmmakers come up with the dinosaur movements using real animals as an inspiration.
The Cyclops was given a lot of personality by Ray; during the scene when he's attacked by the drunken sailors. He's speared in the back but when he pulls it out, he looks at it and at the men throwing spears at him and then he throws the spear to the ground in what can only be described as a fit of sheer rage.
Agreed. It was simple moments like that which gave his creatures more life and soul. Then again, I’d be pissed too if a bunch of drunk mutineers came a threw a spear in my back.
The first Harryhausen review should be combined with this one, to make almost an hour of fun and a great Harryhausen review! Anyone can tell that you love the Master as much as we. Now you should do reviews on Jim Danforth's work - the poor man's Ray Harryhausen!
What an OUTSTANDING DOCUMEN TARY !!!!!! The Great Jim Danforth comes to mind as another Stop Motion Master Animater. Especially with Jim’s animation of the “ZANTI- MISFITS” for TOS Outer Limits TV series 👍🏻😃 !!!!!!
Actually, Jim Danforth did not animate the Zanti Misfits, a popular misconception. The Zantis were animated by Al Hamm, known then for having animated Speedy Alka-Seltzer in numerous commercials. Jim has pointed this out in Vol. 1 of his memoir, wanting to set the record straight.
there will never be anyone else like him! wearing my custom cyclops shirt now. I hope oneday there is a resurgence in stop motion and we can get them in the theater again.
Great Job!!! as usual. I love your posts on various aspects of cinema. Clash Of The Titans and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms were my intro. to Ray Harryhausen.
@@gregpoore2757 : Love the Kali scene myself as well (one of Mr. Harryhausen's best animated sequences), but like you Greg, I always loved the *Mysterious Island* Bees too! That scene doesn't get the love from the fans and the critics that it deserves. I even heard one reviewer say that most of the creature scenes in *Mysterious Island* (and that one in particular) are just "in there" for the creature's sakes and don't do anything to advance the story. In my book, that couldn't be any further from the truth than if he said, "Red is Green". This is especially true in the case of the Bees. If not for them, Herbert and Elena would not have discovered the Nautilus and the presence of Captain Nemo on the Island. It's even a more remarkable animation sequence when you consider that Ray Harryhausen only built one Bee model (for budgetary reasons). He had to overlay one animated Bee right after another via split screen photography for those shots of two or three Bees at a time. It takes a ton of preplanning to do that sort of thing and Ray H. did it so brilliantly. Much more complicated to pull that kind of visual effect off imperceptibly back when he did it than it is these days. And... most people don't know about that "only one Bee model" fun fact, as it was done so well. When I was a kid, I thought they just shot and photographically enlarged real bees, some how managing to make them look better than other movies that tried to do the same sort of thing by attempting to make grasshoppers, spiders and lizards look like gigantic creatures. Now knowing just how difficult it must have been to do in StopMotion/Stop Frame photography, I can really appreciate the effort it would have taken for him to accomplish this. As difficult as it was when he animated the seven Skeletons in *Jason* or the three Ghouls in *Eye of the Tiger*, at least he had them all there to work with in those particular shots, where two or more were present in the frame. Maybe he was able to afford building the extra models in those films because the movies they released directly before were big hits (meaning *Mysterious Island* and *Golden Voyage*). With successes like that, you can justify having to spend a little more money for this and that on the next film.
@@scottgamble7767 A great reply and I agree. Saying the creatures are there just for the sake of animated stop motion effects is ridiculous. Besides the bee's leading to the discovery of the Nautilus, ( which is a beautifully shot scene by the way!) is Nemos search for an answer to starvation. Why wouldn't there be giant bees too? Ha! Besides the creatures even the escape in the balloon scene looks great. I used to have a book called "A Ray Harryhausen Scrapbook" and there were many behind the scene photographs. One of my favorites was Ray with his miniaturized prison grounds set and the balloon. Add it all up with Bernard Hermann's great score and Mysterious Island is one of the best.
I remember my father watching this movies sat at night and i as a kid was amazed with this movies, my favorite is sinbad and kali.thanks to my father still today i love this movies and i always will remember him since he passed away 15 days ago.
Terrific tribute, your right, there all number 1. All of his films are very, very important in cinema's history of effects. What's lovely about them for viewers, is that he brought to life all those great mythical creatures and legends that we all read about and saw pictures in books, but, wondered what they really looked/moved like!. Now that's imagination and that's why we love Ray Harryhausen.
I was born in the 80’s. And have seen many, many of these films. But never knew the history of this legendary creator. Thank you for this documentary! I have a brand new appreciation for this man’s work and having a 10,000K plus disc collection of films (that sadly only includes a few of these movies), I now have a new goal to collect and preserve as many of these films from this creator as possible! Really, thank you for this! 👍💯
Ray's Cyclops, also my fav creation of his! My favorite mythical monster, my first Harryhausen creature that wasn't a dinosaur, and, all other versions of the Cyclops become ever lesser the more they stray from this one.
The level of artistry which went into the creatures, the set pieces, the frame by frame movements to show emotion and character... it's all unbelievably amazing. I can't imagine the patience and skill needed for it all. The man was a genius.
I couldn’t imagine growing up in the 50s and 60s with so many low rent MST3K type monsters/creatures and then getting hit with this stuff. It’s visually mesmerizing even today.
There is a short animation film made in St Albans, England about 1895, "The war of the Toys" which is amazing in that it shows maybe a hundred toys all fighting one another in one camera shot. I can only guess at the number, but keeping them all moving simultaneously was an incredible feat. Especially at that time. The only version of it I know is in the Hertfordshire film library.
Genius. Grew up in the '70's watching these. Saw sinbad and the eye of the tiger in '77 and clash of the titans in '81 in pictures in Newport. Watched 'mysterious island' earlier on horror Channel! Part of my childhood. I salute you Mr. Harryhausen!
Without this great visionary we would never have any of the Jurassic Park movies or Godzilla movies he was such a good influence to all these great directors
Man, Mr Harryhaussen was an amazing creature I truly wish I could’ve met him at least once and tell him how much his movies influence my childhood I’m not even in special effects or movie business but I’ve always had the utmost respect and admiration for all that he’d done and created on screen
My introduction to Ray Harryhausen was with Jason and the Argonauts. As a young boy, I could not believe my eyes when Talos made his entrance. Talos will always be my favorite.
The absolute epitome of a perfect film sequence (IMHO) is the flawless Dynamation and the menacing score from Jason and the Argonauts' Children of the Hydra's Teeth.
This is a brilliant expose. Thanks very much for making this video. It's got real documentary quality. I love the references to the different world mythologies, and the depth of analysis of Ray Harryhausen's work throughout the video is excellent. 👌🏾📽👏🏾
Dark Corners Reviews 38.6K subscribers I have seen many of these interesting Ray Harryhausen stop motion Monster fights on UA-cam and I have to say they're very well done.
Totally agree with you Lindsey. And for the record... lest anyone is confused who may read this and might not know... Ray Harryhausen did NOT do "claymation". That was a term first used (and actually trademarked, I believe) by the late Will Vinton, who like Aardman and Nick Park after him, animated figures made from plasticine clay. Vinton was far from the first to do this, but he coined the name. Ray's process was "Dynamation"! Mr. Harryhausen began fabricating his creatures in the time honored tradition of Marcel Delgado (Google him, for those who don't know who Marcel was) which was a fabrication technique that was fairly laborious. Several films into his pro career, on the production of THE ANIMAL WORLD where Ray animated dinosaurs for Willis O'Brien and director Irwin Allen, he learned a quicker technique of making rubber figures from the guys at the Warner Bros. lab. First, the final creature designs were sculpted in an oil based clay to define their shape in 3 dimensions, but then they were molded (or "moulded", for you folks in the UK) in a kind of extra hard setting plaster, these days known as Gypsum Cement. The clay was thrown away after demolding, as it would have gotten all messy in the process and the final animation figures were then cast from these molds in foam latex, over machined metal, ball & socket armatures. None of Ray's feature films were what one would call "claymation", since all of his animation puppets (or "models" as he preferred to call them) were essentially made out of one form of rubber or another on these machined jointed, posable metal skeletons... and not wire... as some have claimed. Wire armatures are a more common thing used by UA-camr animators today (for expense reasons), though some of Harryhausen's smaller figures did have wire fingers and such due to their size. However, most of his animation models had skeletons that were machine shop made custom joints from head to toe - with some pivot points here and there - but largly ball and socketed joints, which yielded the best animation results for him. www.stopmotionworks.com/images2/RH_3_2011B.jpg www.heavymetal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ray-harryhausen-national-gallery-scotland-exhibit-6-940x1024.jpg I expect you already know this Lindsey, so this is for those who get these things confused or may have been misinformed. Often I am amazed that some supposed "experts" that speak about Mr. Harryhausen's work (on TV programs and such) get it completely wrong and call what he did "claymation". In most cases, his originals were first sculpted in an oil based clay (probably something like "Roma" plastilina)... cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1744/3435/products/greaygreen2_1024x1024.jpg?v=1575403250 ...but the final sculpt was not used in it's clay form, as is the case for "claymation". Ray's end product was always "fleshed" in rubber, with the only exception being the molded and carved casting plaster replacement heads he used in his early Mother Goose /fairytale shorts. Mr. Harryhausen's work is my personal favorite in the world of StopMotion animation (also Jim Danforth and David Allen), but Will Vinton's clay animation is a thing unto itself... and is really cool as well. If you are interested in seeing some old school, but really well done... actual clay animation... look up the work Will Vinton here on UA-cam. There is a lot of it posted. My favorites of the work he and his crew ever did was created for THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN (1985) and their SPFX "gnome" rock creatures in Disney's RETURN TO OZ (also released in 1985) for director Walter Murch. "Creepiest scene from any kid's movie - Adventures of Mark Twain" on UA-cam ☞ ua-cam.com/video/Ntf5_ue2Lzw/v-deo.html [7:44] This next Vinton clip is really short, but all of the other clips featuring his crew's work for RETURN TO OZ on UA-cam is filled with "spoilers". It's a GREAT film, so I don't want to ruin it for you if you haven't seen it. Better to look up the whole movie, which IS out there. The following is not the best representative clip for for the show, but this is a taste... "Return to Oz - A CHICKEN?!" ☞ ua-cam.com/video/OA-Aaq5sDBY/v-deo.html [0:20] priceonomics.com/how-the-father-of-claymation-lost-his-company/ Sorry this was so long, but hope it was enlightening for some of you out there.
Fact check police: Not meaning to be annoying B. Pond, but the original Schneer/Harryhausen "Clash of the Titans" was released in 1981 not '84. I whole heartedly agree with your assesment though. Even the newer reboot's star said that his movie was terrible... sometime after the release went cold. A personal comment: I always thought their intentional dis of Bubo in that film was particularly insulting. Exclude him from it if you must, but don't present him (depicted exactly as Ray Harryhausen had designed him) and then toss him away as worthless, as they did in their reboot. Shameful ; a slap in the face. Interestingly enough, they still managed to reuse many of RH's designs that were original, even though they apparently had distain for the his movie. Medusa never looked like she did in 1981 in any version of myths. However, that original design by Mr. Harryhausen is now accepted by the masses as the way Medusa should look. That Gorgon design was Ray trying to make her more cinematic than the original myth... and at the same time, not retread ground already broken by Hammer's "The Gorgon", who previously presented Medusa as she was more classically and traditionally envisioned. In addition, scorpions and other foul things were reported in the original myth to have sprung from Medusa's blood, but nowhere was there ever a battle with Cadillac sized scorpions in any of the versions of that ancient story. That was pure Harryhausen magic. The new reboot managed to heist both of those designs and reuse them badly to boot. What purpose did the scorpions serve there being the size of 18 wheel trucks? The characters in their reimagining even rode them around for Heaven's sake! That is definately NOT aligned with the point of the fabled tale.
I went to see the remake specifically to heckle it, and I was still disappointed. It is so garbage, especially compared to such a great film as the original.
Even though Harryhausen's creatures moved jerkily by today's standards, I'd rather watch them than any of the other multi-million dollar CGI movies, put together.
I'm not a fan of plasticy looking cgi, it lacks the warmth of the stop-motion creatures. I've probably missed a few good stories because I can't stand looking at the new-fangled stuff.
@@0therun1t21 There's a good reason Harryhausen's creatures still hold up today. By breathing his own life into them, they all became REAL. That's why we all love them, and always will.
@@0therun1t21 I love how you used the word, "FEEL," my friend. Its like when he designed the fight scene between King Kong and the T-Rex. He modeled Kong's fighting style on the boxing champion of the day, the great Joe Lewis. If you should ever watch the film again, look for the moves, and you will smile.
@@tiffsaver dear tiff saver i love your comment and you are right the fight does have a lot of boxing in it. ( and some wrestling in it as well). I feel I have to correct you on one thing though it was the great Willis O'Brien that did the stop motion on the original king kong. Not the great ray harryhausen. Reguards from michael from Yorkshire and proud of it .
Awesome vid mate. Love the channel and, got to say, love this vid. I grew up in the 80's watching all of these creations take life infront of my eyes. I have to tell a truth in that I was 12 when I saw Clash of the Titans and Medusa gave me nightmares. I still watch every movie he has done if it is on TV. Harryhausen was ahead of his time but was perfectly placed where he was as if he had used any othe techique? It would never have worked so well.
Ross Munro Mst3k jokes hello nurse da bears whatever happened to predictability? The milkman the paperboy Mac and/or me?,angelyne?, woo somebody sold a lot of Mary Kay,yeah crow pretty nice us all everyone,more like hands across him Eric-a,you know what they call a royale with cheese in America,we made it doc I mean Mac🤣
@@Bluesit32 I would say it is magic that brought them to life and I often if you kill the source you kill thr magic, so I have always often wondered if the Necromancer ever met his fate. Talos Awakening & The Skeleton fight in Argonauts are the result of Harryhausen magic bringing THEM to life.
Too many Ray Harryhausen creations that are really stunning to pick a best or favorite, but Talos is in a class of his own, truly epic. Thanks for making this really well done vid!.
Thanks, Harry! Thanks for scaring me, for making my jaw drop and for making an impact on movies themselves. And thanks to Dark Corner Reviews for all your videos. There are always a welcome trip down memory lane.
When it comes to films that don't get talked about a lot, I've always liked "Ugly Bird" in THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN. And even though it gets a bad rap, I've always like all the animation in EQUINOX.
Of course, not Harryhausen films but I always thought that EQUINOX was fun too, done by Dennis Muren and David Allen very, very early in their careers. HILLBILLY JOHN was animated by Harry Walton (WILLOW, HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS). I have never seen this film and thanks to you I just noticed it is up here on UA-cam. Thanks for mentioning it... gonna go watch it!!
It boggles the mind how he was able to get the animations so smooth. Watching that Ceratosaurus's tail after the Triceratops flips it is just mesmerizing.
As much as I love the stop motion effects I have to say my most memorable scenes are the conversation between the godesses in Clash of the Titans about that randy Zeus and the scene with Stygeon Witches.
Screenwriter Bev Cross deviated all over the place in his retelling of the Perseus Myth. His intent was to pull it all together and make a good screenplay of it, which I think he did. These two scenes you speak of, however, are taken right out of the original Greek myths. The one with the godesses is speculation of course, but the info is factual to the original mythical tales... and probably more so than the rest of the movie, as presented.
Thank you! This was great to see my beloved Harryhausen creations. I had forgotten that he animated the upper class Selenites in 'First Men on the Moon'. I must admit as a kid, I had the hot's for Kali in Golden voyage of Sinbad, and of course Caroline Munroe. But it's amazing how much life this Master endowed his creations with.
These bring back great memories. As a kid I remember in Jason that when the skeletons were fighting the crew the music was with an xylophone. I thought it had to do with someone striking the bones. It was used in other movies too.
A wonderful look at the boundless enthusiasm that Harryhausen still evokes in young and old alike. Beautiful choices all and I love that you made a point of how sympathetic his creations are even when they are being abominable. His creatures are so alive you simply can't help but feel for them. As far as non-Harryhausen stop motion effects go its of course tempting to choose O'Brien and a bit of stop motion trivia that makes me think of is that in the 1957 movie "The Black Scorpion" a bunch of the giant insects from the sadly lost King Kong pit sequence make a guest staring appearance in the caverns the giant scorpions have been lock in since time immemorial. Anyone who's ever wondered what they might have looked like in Kong can a least get a peak at them in Black Scorpion. For myself I always loved the very goofy but full of personality dinosaurs in the 1981 Ringo Starr vehicle "Caveman". Where else are you going to see an iguana done is stop motion to make fun of all the real iguanas pressed into service as dinosaur stand-ins over the years!
That screen test of the giant insects underground, shot in 1932, was intended for King Kong, but was used instead for The Black Scorpion(1957), another underrated stop motion gem. It took 25 years to make it to the big screen. 🦂🦂🦂
Don't miss our Harryhausen tribute video - "Myth Maker" for a more in-depth look at his work. ua-cam.com/video/VJZDLP_spIg/v-deo.html
The creative team members who came out of Tim Burton and Walt Disney - Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Para Norman, then we have Aardman and all of their wonderful work.... :)
Jim mirroring killed medusa
@@NinjaNezumi thank you thank you
Chills
In the PIXAR movie "Monsters Inc." there was a restaurant named "Harryhausen's" in honor of the legendary animator. He was invited to the complex and everyone lined up to meet him.
Never knew about that reference til now - that's pretty cool
@@mediocretroll2842 I actually got to meet him too. I was a kid at one of the very early Star Wars conventions and he was a guest. I was wandering around on the rather small vendor sales floor and saw him and his wife.
I was surprised that no one had gone up and talked to them so I went up and asked, "Did they make you pay full price Mr. Harryhausen?" He got a big laugh out of that and gave me a pat on the shoulder.
Genuinely nice guy!
@@thedoneeye very cool - those old monsters are classic - love clash of the titans and Jason and the Argonauts
Just a little homage to the man who created these great films throughout
I think that they referenced him at gravity falls as well.
What’s funny is that I tried explaining to my family the film “clash of the titans” when I was little (I didn’t know the name of the movie) they said I was crazy and probably dreamt it as there is no movie as I described. Almost 30 years latter I came across this video and saw the scene again. It made me soo happy! I knew I saw this movie in real life!!
🙂👍
I'm surprised that they didn't believe you. It was on VHS in the 1980s, and on DVD for 25 years or more!
There's a remake too
@@JackieSkellingtonscrew the remake.
And the original famous myth had been around for over 2,000 years. :-D@@BladeStar-uq6xe
Talos remains my favourite. The brilliant introduction to the character, its rampage against the Argonauts, topped off with the death scene. Brilliant, unequaled and with the memorable film score from Bernard Herrmann. Sheer genius.
I loved the creaky metal dumpster sounds he made when he moved.
I mean he made some good ones its hard to choose from so many, but I have to say... Talos was my favorite also, when he turned his head and looked down... that was straight out chilling.
@@DwayneETowns Best intro in fantasy filmmaking!
@@MalcolmBrenner
I agree!
@@DwayneETowns Yeah, now that you mention it, I remember feeling awed at that moment even the second time I watched the movie knowing what's coming.
best creation: Medusa, not only for the technical difficulty, but for the amount of character Ray put into every movement
I have to admit as a teen I really love these films I first watched the 7th voyage of Sinbad and I loved the cyclops but ow I've seen clash of the titans and jason and the argonauts and the colossus was awesome and the best imo
Todd Williams. I agree. To me, Medusa is his greatest creation, and the testimony to his skill and artistry.
Someone actually intercut the original and the remake and the differences are day and night.
Even if you ignore CGI vs Stop Motion, the original is a masterclass of film making where as the remake is just another generic action scene.
Ives been accused of such
The Hydra as well!! Harryhausen would say it was difficult to keep track of which head he'd just been working on since there were so many, especially if he stepped away to take a phone call or something like that, lol ..
Ray Harryhausen was an absolute genius . There will never ever be anyone like him . What incredible vision he had with ALL his creatures. I am forever grateful to have been a kid watching in awe , all of his movies. But for me it was Talos Talos Talos !! The sound of the metal crunching and squealing with his movements was unforgettable and frightening as a child. To this day , every time I see a bronze statue , I can't help but to think of Talos and the pillow I clung to in front of the television. Great memories. Thank you for sharing a wonderful trip back to a simpler time. Kids today have not a clue.
Gênio do cinema.
ua-cam.com/video/fvzsWmRhAQM/v-deo.html
when he turned his head, I was scared to death
I always thought the chess game in Star Wars was a nice little tribute to Ray too. It's interesting to see how influential he was to a lot of filmmakers. We wouldn't have the robot army from "Terminator" without his skeletons, that's for sure.
Oh, absolutely.
As a kid, Talos coming to life gave me nightmares for days. Now when I watch it I can't help but grin from ear to ear. Another brilliant video, Robin!
I was always impressed at how fluid and life-like the movements were. From the skeletons fighting and jumping to the Pegasus. The Pegasus is extremely impressive. The movement is so graceful like you’d imagine a winged horse creature to be. Man, such a great example to excellent movie history. Thanks for sharing and putting it together!!
Ray Harryhausen is such a legend, especially for those of us that grew up with his "magic"!
Indeed! I grew up loving his work. He was THE stop motion master! And, every one of his movies was such an exciting adventure.
Thank you
@@Nacho-Mamma thanks
There is no magic left today 😔
There is no computer technology that makes so fantastic and well done effects like in these slow motion movies. A truly art!
I loved these wonderful movies as a kid. As an adult I still love them but now I also appreciate them. To realize there was a man (with massive patience) shooting one frame of film at a time just floors me. And one other thing. While CG looks more realistic, Mr. Harryhausens movies FEEL real, because you had to use your imagination. You were actually taking part in the movie. Beautiful!
Wonderfully expressed, and another fan of
Original OUTER LIMITS TV series, I note!👍
@@starmnsixty1209 Thanks and yes, I love the Outer Limits. Shoestring budgets, mediocre to bad effects (remember it was the early 60's) but fantastic storylines and an unbelievable soundtrack by the great Dominic Frontiere.
@@ZantiMisfit198 takem over most CGI any day regardless 👍
I am as mesmerized today by the creatures that Ray Harryhausen created as I was when I was just a boy all those many years ago.
I cannot imagine the time and skill it took to create those one-frame-at-a-time scenes. Harryhausen was by far, the very best ever! Pegasus was indeed his best work. Rest In Peace, Mr. Harryhausen.
Harryhausen's Skeleton were very influential on pop culture.
- Skeleton soldiers in Dungeons and Dragons.
- Skeleton soldiers and the arcade game Golden Axe.
- Skeleton soldiers in the tabletop game Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Particularly the 1980's plastic ones.
- Skeleton soldiers in the movie: Evil Dead Army of Darkness.
Not just because they are skeletons. Even the shields and curved swords are often the same.
Dark Souls?
Spooky scary skeletons
Spinal
Foul tricks...
Don’t forget the final fight in Miss Peregrine, the skeletons vs the slendermen ! A total tribute to the Sinbad scene ! 😏
A bit of youtube that's as good as anything on tv. Much better in fact.
It is absolutely criminal how under-rated this channel is...
I don't know... I rate it really high myself! This video and your other Mythmaker video on Ray Harryhausen are among your best written, produced, edited and performed pieces. They are number one and two in my book... and I can't make up my mind which is which as they are both equally as good.
One foot note: at [14:39], I have never heard Janet Stevens reffered to as _"Janey Moore"_. Is that a married name? Where did you get it?
www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ray-harryhausen-clash-titans-janet-499138226
In all publications where her work for Ray Harryhausen is mentioned, she is referred to as *Janet Stevens* and she is listed on IMDB that way as well (no Janet Moore is listed, other than an actress by that name). The only Janet Stevens-Moore that I could find is an American real estate agent and she is not the same woman.
Janet Stevens also sculpted for Mr. Harryhausen doing several creatures for the last two Sinbad films as well as sculpting the Kraken on Clash for him from his designs, under his supervision. She was an excellent artist who also worked on the final two of the original *Star Wars* films as well as *Superman & Alien 3*.
One clarification: Janet Stevens sculpted the full figure Kraken with the tail :
cdn2.newsok.biz/cache/w620-7cfa297d036c908f4abeb794e9f9f004.jpg
The big, waist up version that was used for the ultra close-ups was sculpted for Ray by Lyle Conway (*The Dark Crystal, Return to Oz, Little Shop of Horrors* Frank Oz directed music remake).
i1.wp.com/firstfandomexperience.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/PIX-3-Clash-of-the-Titans-Kraken.jpg?w=871&ssl=1
scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/70144858_2323459974539540_7096791496468201472_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_sid=110474&_nc_ohc=ljRs9s6etyMAX_6GO-a&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&tp=14&oh=3088d9b65b648761effc3e8e7182b755&oe=5F99644F
lol you just found this out
Wow. An unimaginable amount of work, a stunning display of artistry. Every character is so otherworldly but absolutely real.
Thank you
I saw Jason and the Argonauts as a child. Still one of my favourite movies. Brilliant.
I'm 48 & still remember first seeing the Sinbad movies & how they affected my imagination as a child, they were my favorites. Toped off by Clash of the titans. What's even more eye opening today is how TV, movie's, & entertainment is changing our youth.
The crunching metallic sounds of Talos while stalking the men. Sheer perfection
More of a shrill, piercing noise than a crunch. The sound of metal attempting to resist being forcibly bent or the sound of metal on metal as the joints rubbed together.
We geezers have a duty to introduce these films to kids today
They wouldn't appreciate it!
I have clash of the titans coming in the post, with plans to watch it with my sons. I saw it when I was his age and fell in love with it back in the day.
I'm not a geezer, I didn't grow up watching films that today are regarded as old, but I must tell you that I appreciate a well done stop motion. In my childhood days, a few of those kind of films were still exhibited on tv from time to time, and I found those effects magical for some reason I can't explain, and I still find them to be. They didn't look any realistic in comparison to other films with creatures, but somehow i enjoyed them. I can remember Clash of Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, and three or four of those Sinbad movies.
I have a ten year old and 6 year old. So far we watched Jason and the Argonauts and 7th voyage. They love this and Godzilla films. Well any monster movie really. Next is Clash of the titans!
@@Shatamx Which child does not like monster movie, right? If I'm not wrong, 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' is a remake of 'The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad'. I also remember another one entitled 'Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger'. All those are classic stop-motion adventure movies, alongside with 'Jason And The Argonauts' and, not to forget, 'Clash Of Titans' (the kids will love it, for sure).
Edit: As pointed by kurtoy 20, below, 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' came after 'The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad'; thus the former is the remake of the later, not the contrary as I first wrote before editing this reply.
Robin, you’re an old soul with a young man’s eye. May you forever be this way.
Medusa's rattlesnake tail, though totally in-authentic, is one of my favourites. Wonderfully chilling.
I have to admit that it was Talos that scared me most as a kid. I remember seeing Jason And The Argonauts on the big screen, so when Talos turned his head to look towards the sailors, that dead expression, no eyes, I’m sure I peed my pants, at least a bit. I still get that feeling when I see it today. It shows that everything doesn’t have to be a jump scare to be frightening. That’s something most modern directors could learn from.
I love stop motion animation. The movements are somewhat real, but also a bit unnatural, which is why they seem surreal and magical. I think those creatures are far more chilling when they move that way.
The lack of motion blur is what gives them that unnatural feel, but I don’t think those skeletons and creatures would have been as frightening without that shaky movement. I never got to see Kong on the big screen, but it had to be terrorizing when he first breaks through those trees to face Ann.
These films must always be preserved because they are a time in film making we will never see again, which is too bad. Ray Harryhausen was the master of this craft, there will never be another like him.
Same me and my brother kept seeing this in cinemax seeing talos slowly creeping up and move scared usand how big it is
The incredible music helped too. I taped it off the TV as a kid.
Now that moment was a beauty to behold I was at my grandmas my whole family was there we were watching some movie sinbad the 7th voyage I thought It would be bad untill I saw the cyclops it was a beauty it was so cool it was just magical the skeleton fight was awesome and taro was awesome after that I watched clash of the titans and that was awesome seeing the stop motion krakwn and the media scene it was just awesome it had a certain feel that no modern movies have a certain aura I hope we have a stop motion movie like that with the damsel in distress the hero and his crew fighting giant monsters then everyone was at my house and we watched jason and the Argonauts selling the colossus as I called h was amazing he had blank eyes and his size and grandeur was amazing it was so real yet so unnatural it made him all the more terrifying then they fought the hydra I had been looking forward to that and it was awesome it was such an amazing scan them the skeleton army was an all round awesome scene
Supreme. "Jason and the Argonauts" is my personal fave. And when Ray Harryhausen spoke at our film school I brought up the sequel suggested at the end of it. That was enough for Ray Bradbury to send us an invitation to a "Clash of the Titans" premiere a few years later where we witnessed him introduce Fay Wray to Ray Harryhausen for the first time. Thank you from an impressed subscriber.
A great review! God, I remember seeing The Golden Voyage of Sindbad at the movie theater. Inhad seen Harryhausen films on tv, but Sindbad blew me away. I was ten. The Medusa in Clash of the Titans was infinitely better than the cgi version in the remake, just more atmosphere, and the animation gives it an otherworldly, dreamlike quality (which is why to this day I prefer the old King Kong)
As an old schooler, these monsters were high-end back in the day and all of them were frightening enough to keep families huddled up during showtime.
All classics IMO(along with Ulysses) giving all characters..monsters highest of credits in regards of their role play.
Quality upload!
Well narrated!!
Talk about a man with the patience of Job. All those tiny little details...frame, by frame, by frame. How long did it take just to change the expression on the cyclops's face?
It's mind boggling to think of the armature needed for the Hydra.
@@jarniwoop Or keeping mental track of where in their movements each individual skeleton model was during the finale in Jason.
I agree with the host wholeheartedly about the introduction of Talos. The scene where he looks down at Hercules together with the beautiful Foley (sound) work and Bernard Herrmann's haunting music still gives me chills to this day.
Talos awakening is the greatest "oh, S###!" moment in film history.
Good point.
Mine too!
Two of my favorite things: An informative and entertaining video from Dark Corners and more Ray Harryhausen!
Man, Ray's work on these films was just perfect.
Honestly, I love the stop motion claymation like these better than most CGI films nowadays. They were very realistic.
Just my own personal opinion, that's all.
I loved Trog, made me sad to see him die and sacrifice himself while fighting the Sabretooth.
I saw Ray speak at an art college in Detroit, I think it was in like 2002 or 3. The room was filled with animation students. He was so nice. Even though he was already over 80 years old, he answered all of their questions and stayed as long as there were still kids asking them. He never said, well I have to go now. He was just really happy to talk about his work and pass along knowledge to people that wanted to learn. Aside from being an animation genius, he was a great human being.
Well done once again, guys! Your passion for Harryhausen is undeniable!
If I was to think of another stop-motion artist whose work I love, I'd have to go with Phil Tippett. He took what Harryhausen and O'Brien did and learned from it, creating the process of go-motion (stop-motion with motion blur). From the Tauntauns and AT-ATs in Empire Strikes Back to Vermithrax Pejorative in Dragonslayer, to the AT-STs in Return of the Jedi, to ED-209 in Robocop, he showed the same love for the craft as his predecessors.
It should also be noted that he was going to use go-motion for Jurassic Park before it was decided that CGI would be used. But he stayed on to help the filmmakers better realize the dinosaur scenes. He even helped the filmmakers come up with the dinosaur movements using real animals as an inspiration.
Wow ! Ray Harryhausen is a legend 🌟 🌟 🌟 👍👍
The Cyclops was given a lot of personality by Ray; during the scene when he's attacked by the drunken sailors. He's speared in the back but when he pulls it out, he looks at it and at the men throwing spears at him and then he throws the spear to the ground in what can only be described as a fit of sheer rage.
Yes, Ray was the best at this. However, read the original, the Odyssey by Homer, for genuinely scary...
@@andyclayton9204 Polyphebus: A drunk stupid anthropophage, who's the son of a God. Loathsome creature.
Agreed. It was simple moments like that which gave his creatures more life and soul.
Then again, I’d be pissed too if a bunch of drunk mutineers came a threw a spear in my back.
@@andyclayton9204 "Brothers! I have been blinded and No-Man did the deed!" Serves him right for not questioning the name Odysseus gave him.
he got a lot of inspiration from his mentor Willis O'Brian in King Kong
stage presence and charisma, great designs these creation have that made them so memorable. Harryhausen had such geart artistic instincts.
The harpies from Jason and the Argonauts scared the crap out of me when I was eight.
I loved the harpies when I was a kid. Talos on the other hand....
The first Harryhausen review should be combined with this one, to make almost an hour of fun and a great Harryhausen review!
Anyone can tell that you love the Master as much as we.
Now you should do reviews on Jim Danforth's work - the poor man's Ray Harryhausen!
I'm fascinated by his work from childhood up until now. Truly a work of art with his heart and soul.
What an OUTSTANDING DOCUMEN TARY !!!!!! The Great Jim Danforth comes to mind as another Stop Motion Master Animater. Especially with Jim’s animation of the “ZANTI- MISFITS” for TOS Outer Limits TV series 👍🏻😃 !!!!!!
Oh yes: The Zanti Misfits. When it first aired, I was in the seventh grade, and it made me lose a night's worth of sleep.
Pat, in Chicago
I TOTALLY agree!
"The Zanti Misfits" scared the hell out of me when I was seven! I have Jim Danforth to thank for that childhood fright! 🚀🚀🚀🐜🐜🐜
Actually, Jim Danforth did not animate the Zanti Misfits, a popular misconception. The Zantis were animated by Al Hamm, known then for having animated Speedy Alka-Seltzer in numerous commercials. Jim has pointed this out in Vol. 1 of his memoir, wanting to set the record straight.
Thank you
Ray is my all time favorite artist in ANY field! Excellent video! Thank you!!!
You cant beat good old Ray Harryhausen cyclops,always my abiding memory growing up.Loved the movement and brutal action.
Wonderful tribute to one of my favorite cinema magicians. Thank you!
God I love stop motion. Clash of the Titans and Jason and the Argonauts is a golden classic.
These videos are a new high water mark for you. I loved these films then and seeing how they were done is a kick. Thank you
there will never be anyone else like him! wearing my custom cyclops shirt now.
I hope oneday there is a resurgence in stop motion and we can get them in the theater again.
With the tech they have, they could make these creatures very realistic. Too much greed though
Great Job!!! as usual. I love your posts on various aspects of cinema. Clash Of The Titans and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms were my intro. to Ray Harryhausen.
You surely did an amazing job on the documentary! Robins conclusion made me smile for the rest of the day...
The Kali scene was always my favorite.
Mine too. Gorgeous and terrifying.
Me too, she scare me right now! May be that's why, ya know?
I've always been fond of the giant bees from Mysterious Island.
@@gregpoore2757 : Love the Kali scene myself as well (one of Mr. Harryhausen's best animated sequences), but like you Greg, I always loved the *Mysterious Island* Bees too! That scene doesn't get the love from the fans and the critics that it deserves. I even heard one reviewer say that most of the creature scenes in *Mysterious Island* (and that one in particular) are just "in there" for the creature's sakes and don't do anything to advance the story. In my book, that couldn't be any further from the truth than if he said, "Red is Green".
This is especially true in the case of the Bees. If not for them, Herbert and Elena would not have discovered the Nautilus and the presence of Captain Nemo on the Island. It's even a more remarkable animation sequence when you consider that Ray Harryhausen only built one Bee model (for budgetary reasons). He had to overlay one animated Bee right after another via split screen photography for those shots of two or three Bees at a time. It takes a ton of preplanning to do that sort of thing and Ray H. did it so brilliantly. Much more complicated to pull that kind of visual effect off imperceptibly back when he did it than it is these days. And... most people don't know about that "only one Bee model" fun fact, as it was done so well.
When I was a kid, I thought they just shot and photographically enlarged real bees, some how managing to make them look better than other movies that tried to do the same sort of thing by attempting to make grasshoppers, spiders and lizards look like gigantic creatures. Now knowing just how difficult it must have been to do in StopMotion/Stop Frame photography, I can really appreciate the effort it would have taken for him to accomplish this.
As difficult as it was when he animated the seven Skeletons in *Jason* or the three Ghouls in *Eye of the Tiger*, at least he had them all there to work with in those particular shots, where two or more were present in the frame. Maybe he was able to afford building the extra models in those films because the movies they released directly before were big hits (meaning *Mysterious Island* and *Golden Voyage*). With successes like that, you can justify having to spend a little more money for this and that on the next film.
@@scottgamble7767 A great reply and I agree. Saying the creatures are there just for the sake of animated stop motion effects is ridiculous. Besides the bee's leading to the discovery of the Nautilus, ( which is a beautifully shot scene by the way!) is Nemos search for an answer to starvation. Why wouldn't there be giant bees too? Ha! Besides the creatures even the escape in the balloon scene looks great. I used to have a book called "A Ray Harryhausen Scrapbook" and there were many behind the scene photographs. One of my favorites was Ray with his miniaturized prison grounds set and the balloon. Add it all up with Bernard Hermann's great score and Mysterious Island is one of the best.
An impressive tribute to a great filmmaker! Clash of the Titans, First Men in the Moon, he was so talented.
I grew up with all these old movies and I still love watching them now .
I remember my father watching this movies sat at night and i as a kid was amazed with this movies, my favorite is sinbad and kali.thanks to my father still today i love this movies and i always will remember him since he passed away 15 days ago.
Terrific tribute, your right, there all number 1. All of his films are very, very important in cinema's history of effects. What's lovely about them for viewers, is that he brought to life all those great mythical creatures and legends that we all read about and saw pictures in books, but, wondered what they really looked/moved like!. Now that's imagination and that's why we love Ray Harryhausen.
Trog doesnt get enough love. Glad he got mentioned in this video.
I was born in the 80’s. And have seen many, many of these films. But never knew the history of this legendary creator. Thank you for this documentary! I have a brand new appreciation for this man’s work and having a 10,000K plus disc collection of films (that sadly only includes a few of these movies), I now have a new goal to collect and preserve as many of these films from this creator as possible!
Really, thank you for this! 👍💯
Ray's Cyclops, also my fav creation of his! My favorite mythical monster, my first Harryhausen creature that wasn't a dinosaur, and, all other versions of the Cyclops become ever lesser the more they stray from this one.
The level of artistry which went into the creatures, the set pieces, the frame by frame movements to show emotion and character... it's all unbelievably amazing. I can't imagine the patience and skill needed for it all. The man was a genius.
I couldn’t imagine growing up in the 50s and 60s with so many low rent MST3K type monsters/creatures and then getting hit with this stuff. It’s visually mesmerizing even today.
HUGE Harryhausen fan! Talos and the skeletons and Gwangi my favorites
There is a short animation film made in St Albans, England about 1895, "The war of the Toys" which is amazing in that it shows maybe a hundred toys all fighting one another in one camera shot. I can only guess at the number, but keeping them all moving simultaneously was an incredible feat. Especially at that time. The only version of it I know is in the Hertfordshire film library.
Ray Harryhausen forever a master of the art of animation. Thanks for the video.
Been getting back into Harryhausen films and Stop-Motion recently, personally the dinosaurs are my favorite to watch.
Genius. Grew up in the '70's watching these. Saw sinbad and the eye of the tiger in '77 and clash of the titans in '81 in pictures in Newport. Watched 'mysterious island' earlier on horror Channel! Part of my childhood. I salute you Mr. Harryhausen!
Without this great visionary we would never have any of the Jurassic Park movies or Godzilla movies he was such a good influence to all these great directors
Ehhh...I don't know about Godzilla. It's a man in a suit.
@@Bluesit32 Harryhausen was the godfather of monsters But it was one of the inspirations to make Godzilla
Man, Mr Harryhaussen was an amazing creature I truly wish I could’ve met him at least once and tell him how much his movies influence my childhood I’m not even in special effects or movie business but I’ve always had the utmost respect and admiration for all that he’d done and created on screen
Talos and the noises he makes are absolutely terrifying even now
My introduction to Ray Harryhausen was with Jason and the Argonauts. As a young boy, I could not believe my eyes when Talos made his entrance. Talos will always be my favorite.
The absolute epitome of a perfect film sequence (IMHO) is the flawless Dynamation and the menacing score from Jason and the Argonauts' Children of the Hydra's Teeth.
This is a brilliant expose. Thanks very much for making this video. It's got real documentary quality. I love the references to the different world mythologies, and the depth of analysis of Ray Harryhausen's work throughout the video is excellent. 👌🏾📽👏🏾
I love the Medusa in "Clash of the Titans "and goddess Kali in "Golden Voyage of Sinbad ". I watched these movies.
Jason and the Argonauts is a masterpiece.
Dark Corners Reviews
38.6K subscribers I have seen many of these interesting Ray Harryhausen stop motion Monster fights on UA-cam and I have to say they're very well done.
I LOVE EVERYTHING RAY DID - STOP ACTION - AND CLAYMATION HAVE ALWAYS INTERESTED ME AND I LOVE MOVIES THAT WITH THEM.
Totally agree with you Lindsey. And for the record... lest anyone is confused who may read this and might not know... Ray Harryhausen did NOT do "claymation". That was a term first used (and actually trademarked, I believe) by the late Will Vinton, who like Aardman and Nick Park after him, animated figures made from plasticine clay. Vinton was far from the first to do this, but he coined the name. Ray's process was "Dynamation"!
Mr. Harryhausen began fabricating his creatures in the time honored tradition of Marcel Delgado (Google him, for those who don't know who Marcel was) which was a fabrication technique that was fairly laborious. Several films into his pro career, on the production of THE ANIMAL WORLD where Ray animated dinosaurs for Willis O'Brien and director Irwin Allen, he learned a quicker technique of making rubber figures from the guys at the Warner Bros. lab. First, the final creature designs were sculpted in an oil based clay to define their shape in 3 dimensions, but then they were molded (or "moulded", for you folks in the UK) in a kind of extra hard setting plaster, these days known as Gypsum Cement. The clay was thrown away after demolding, as it would have gotten all messy in the process and the final animation figures were then cast from these molds in foam latex, over machined metal, ball & socket armatures.
None of Ray's feature films were what one would call "claymation", since all of his animation puppets (or "models" as he preferred to call them) were essentially made out of one form of rubber or another on these machined jointed, posable metal skeletons... and not wire... as some have claimed. Wire armatures are a more common thing used by UA-camr animators today (for expense reasons), though some of Harryhausen's smaller figures did have wire fingers and such due to their size. However, most of his animation models had skeletons that were machine shop made custom joints from head to toe - with some pivot points here and there - but largly ball and socketed joints, which yielded the best animation results for him.
www.stopmotionworks.com/images2/RH_3_2011B.jpg
www.heavymetal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ray-harryhausen-national-gallery-scotland-exhibit-6-940x1024.jpg
I expect you already know this Lindsey, so this is for those who get these things confused or may have been misinformed. Often I am amazed that some supposed "experts" that speak about Mr. Harryhausen's work (on TV programs and such) get it completely wrong and call what he did "claymation". In most cases, his originals were first sculpted in an oil based clay (probably something like "Roma" plastilina)...
cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1744/3435/products/greaygreen2_1024x1024.jpg?v=1575403250
...but the final sculpt was not used in it's clay form, as is the case for "claymation". Ray's end product was always "fleshed" in rubber, with the only exception being the molded and carved casting plaster replacement heads he used in his early Mother Goose /fairytale shorts.
Mr. Harryhausen's work is my personal favorite in the world of StopMotion animation (also Jim Danforth and David Allen), but Will Vinton's clay animation is a thing unto itself... and is really cool as well. If you are interested in seeing some old school, but really well done... actual clay animation... look up the work Will Vinton here on UA-cam. There is a lot of it posted.
My favorites of the work he and his crew ever did was created for THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN (1985) and their SPFX "gnome" rock creatures in Disney's RETURN TO OZ (also released in 1985) for director Walter Murch.
"Creepiest scene from any kid's movie - Adventures of Mark Twain" on UA-cam
☞ ua-cam.com/video/Ntf5_ue2Lzw/v-deo.html [7:44]
This next Vinton clip is really short, but all of the other clips featuring his crew's work for RETURN TO OZ on UA-cam is filled with "spoilers". It's a GREAT film, so I don't want to ruin it for you if you haven't seen it. Better to look up the whole movie, which IS out there. The following is not the best representative clip for for the show, but this is a taste...
"Return to Oz - A CHICKEN?!"
☞ ua-cam.com/video/OA-Aaq5sDBY/v-deo.html [0:20]
priceonomics.com/how-the-father-of-claymation-lost-his-company/
Sorry this was so long, but hope it was enlightening for some of you out there.
This man's amazing talent and passion for his art filled my childhood with absolute wonder that is still alive and well within.
Clash of the Titans 1984 Edition is better then those reboots were.
81* no?
@@Ghastly_Grinner I thought it was 84 but we might have been 81.
Fact check police: Not meaning to be annoying B. Pond, but the original Schneer/Harryhausen "Clash of the Titans" was released in 1981 not '84. I whole heartedly agree with your assesment though. Even the newer reboot's star said that his movie was terrible... sometime after the release went cold.
A personal comment: I always thought their intentional dis of Bubo in that film was particularly insulting. Exclude him from it if you must, but don't present him (depicted exactly as Ray Harryhausen had designed him) and then toss him away as worthless, as they did in their reboot. Shameful ; a slap in the face.
Interestingly enough, they still managed to reuse many of RH's designs that were original, even though they apparently had distain for the his movie. Medusa never looked like she did in 1981 in any version of myths. However, that original design by Mr. Harryhausen is now accepted by the masses as the way Medusa should look. That Gorgon design was Ray trying to make her more cinematic than the original myth... and at the same time, not retread ground already broken by Hammer's "The Gorgon", who previously presented Medusa as she was more classically and traditionally envisioned. In addition, scorpions and other foul things were reported in the original myth to have sprung from Medusa's blood, but nowhere was there ever a battle with Cadillac sized scorpions in any of the versions of that ancient story. That was pure Harryhausen magic. The new reboot managed to heist both of those designs and reuse them badly to boot. What purpose did the scorpions serve there being the size of 18 wheel trucks? The characters in their reimagining even rode them around for Heaven's sake! That is definately NOT aligned with the point of the fabled tale.
I did like Bill Nighy arguing with Bubo. And his cheeky callback to his "Release the Craken" line from Pirates.
I went to see the remake specifically to heckle it, and I was still disappointed. It is so garbage, especially compared to such a great film as the original.
Just movie magic here. Something so much more satisfying about this than CGI
Even though Harryhausen's creatures moved jerkily by today's standards, I'd rather watch them than any of the other multi-million dollar CGI movies, put together.
I'm not a fan of plasticy looking cgi, it lacks the warmth of the stop-motion creatures. I've probably missed a few good stories because I can't stand looking at the new-fangled stuff.
@@0therun1t21
There's a good reason Harryhausen's creatures still hold up today. By breathing his own life into them, they all became REAL. That's why we all love them, and always will.
@@tiffsaver It certainly comes through on screen, I feel it!
@@0therun1t21
I love how you used the word, "FEEL," my friend. Its like when he designed the fight scene between King Kong and the T-Rex. He modeled Kong's fighting style on the boxing champion of the day, the great Joe Lewis. If you should ever watch the film again, look for the moves, and you will smile.
@@tiffsaver dear tiff saver i love your comment and you are right the fight does have a lot of boxing in it. ( and some wrestling in it as well). I feel I have to correct you on one thing though it was the great Willis O'Brien that did the stop motion on the original king kong. Not the great ray harryhausen. Reguards from michael from Yorkshire and proud of it .
Pegasus and Medusa. They were always my favorite and still are.
No they aren't
Awesome vid mate. Love the channel and, got to say, love this vid. I grew up in the 80's watching all of these creations take life infront of my eyes. I have to tell a truth in that I was 12 when I saw Clash of the Titans and Medusa gave me nightmares. I still watch every movie he has done if it is on TV. Harryhausen was ahead of his time but was perfectly placed where he was as if he had used any othe techique? It would never have worked so well.
Ross Munro Mst3k jokes hello nurse da bears whatever happened to predictability? The milkman the paperboy Mac and/or me?,angelyne?, woo somebody sold a lot of Mary Kay,yeah crow pretty nice us all everyone,more like hands across him Eric-a,you know what they call a royale with cheese in America,we made it doc I mean Mac🤣
Total genius, most of my childhood fav movies featured Ray's effects, way ahead of their time
Such a cool video. Such interesting facts
I could(I will)watch these art works over and over again my friend, love em! collect them all, kids, for life.
Remember saying to my dad at the cinema when I was 5
" How they gonna kill the skeletons when they are already dead ? "
Exactly! Smart kid.
Not with swords, if Diablo taught me anything. You use a mace or a club to shatter those bones. Thank you, Griswold.
@@Bluesit32 I would say it is magic that brought them to life and I often if you kill the source you kill thr magic, so I have always often wondered if the Necromancer ever met his fate. Talos Awakening & The Skeleton fight in Argonauts are the result of Harryhausen magic bringing THEM to life.
Too many Ray Harryhausen creations that are really stunning to pick a best or favorite, but Talos is in a class of his own, truly epic. Thanks for making this really well done vid!.
Where girls cried: Titanic
Where Men cried: The death Of cyclops
Facts
I still can't watch the end of the valley of Gwangi as it's so sad.
Million miles to earth
Thanks, Harry! Thanks for scaring me, for making my jaw drop and for making an impact on movies themselves.
And thanks to Dark Corner Reviews for all your videos. There are always a welcome trip down memory lane.
When it comes to films that don't get talked about a lot, I've always liked "Ugly Bird" in THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN.
And even though it gets a bad rap, I've always like all the animation in EQUINOX.
Of course, not Harryhausen films but I always thought that EQUINOX was fun too, done by Dennis Muren and David Allen very, very early in their careers. HILLBILLY JOHN was animated by Harry Walton (WILLOW, HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS). I have never seen this film and thanks to you I just noticed it is up here on UA-cam. Thanks for mentioning it... gonna go watch it!!
It boggles the mind how he was able to get the animations so smooth. Watching that Ceratosaurus's tail after the Triceratops flips it is just mesmerizing.
I'm so amped up right now!
Excellent! I'd like to give this a thumbs up every time I rewatch it.
As much as I love the stop motion effects I have to say my most memorable scenes are the conversation between the godesses in Clash of the Titans about that randy Zeus and the scene with Stygeon Witches.
Screenwriter Bev Cross deviated all over the place in his retelling of the Perseus Myth. His intent was to pull it all together and make a good screenplay of it, which I think he did. These two scenes you speak of, however, are taken right out of the original Greek myths. The one with the godesses is speculation of course, but the info is factual to the original mythical tales... and probably more so than the rest of the movie, as presented.
Some of those unmade films look like they would have been amazing.
Thank you! This was great to see my beloved Harryhausen creations. I had forgotten that he animated the upper class Selenites in 'First Men on the Moon'. I must admit as a kid, I had the hot's for Kali in Golden voyage of Sinbad, and of course Caroline Munroe. But it's amazing how much life this Master endowed his creations with.
These bring back great memories. As a kid I remember in Jason that when the skeletons were fighting the crew the music was with an xylophone. I thought it had to do with someone striking the bones. It was used in other movies too.
A wonderful look at the boundless enthusiasm that Harryhausen still evokes in young and old alike. Beautiful choices all and I love that you made a point of how sympathetic his creations are even when they are being abominable. His creatures are so alive you simply can't help but feel for them. As far as non-Harryhausen stop motion effects go its of course tempting to choose O'Brien and a bit of stop motion trivia that makes me think of is that in the 1957 movie "The Black Scorpion" a bunch of the giant insects from the sadly lost King Kong pit sequence make a guest staring appearance in the caverns the giant scorpions have been lock in since time immemorial. Anyone who's ever wondered what they might have looked like in Kong can a least get a peak at them in Black Scorpion. For myself I always loved the very goofy but full of personality dinosaurs in the 1981 Ringo Starr vehicle "Caveman". Where else are you going to see an iguana done is stop motion to make fun of all the real iguanas pressed into service as dinosaur stand-ins over the years!
That screen test of the giant insects underground, shot in 1932, was intended for King Kong, but was used instead for The Black Scorpion(1957), another underrated stop motion gem. It took 25 years to make it to the big screen. 🦂🦂🦂
'Clash of the Titans' (1981) has always been my fave.
my magical childhood, never forgot when I saw Kali and the Centaur the first time , it's inked in my soul forever, thank you for this enchanting video
Nothing and I repeat nothing has matched the charm and genius of Ray’s work. Complete wonder. CGI cannot achieve what Ray did.
I only saw a few Harryhausen movies, but the Kali scene is definitely one of my favorites things ever!
Without harryhausen we would never have Steven Spielberg's work