Found this on BoingBoing – it is chock full of awesomesauce. I grew up on the films of Ray Harryhausen and worked with my friend Bryan in his mother’s garage (and in the back room of our art teacher, Paul Jones) to make our own dubious works of art. Like so many before and after me, a large part of my aesthetic has been informed, coloured and directed by Harryhausen’s films.
Can you name them all? I can. Along with the cast, the crews and an endless litany of minutia. I’ve watched them at 3 in the morning on a small screen black and white TV with shabby reception from Barrie – I’ve luxuriated in theatres as their light has basked me with its Dynamation goodness – and I own several copies of each on various media (including some on flip books for cryin’ out loud) – and I never tire of tasting with all my senses the works of Mr. Harryhausen.
My Missus, through her work with Cuppa Coffee Animation, had the opportunity to sculpt a stop-motion figure of Harryhausen himself which was presented to him when he came to Toronto to promote his book and gave a talk. I had the chance to meet him then – but stayed at the back of the room – nervous and fearful for I do not know what – but happy to just be where I was, always was, in the dim shadows observing the show before me.
Thank you, Ray.
Cheers.
P. S. You can find our Ruffus The Dog homage to Ray Harryhausen in the Sinbad episodes here and here. Enjoy!
which shows brilliantly how much of what we took for granted as being real in cinema was actually images painted by hand.
It's going to be more of a personal news aggregator with a featured video blog from yours truly. We'll see how long that lasts. So bear with me - thanks.