Remembering Ray Harryhausen On His Birthday: A celebration!

Mighty Joe Young (1949), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), The Beast from 20,000Fathoms (1953), It Came from Beneath the Sea, many more!

The four and a half minute compilation of every Ray Harryhausen animated creature in feature films, presented in chronological order:

From THE GUARDIAN:

It was nearing the end of Bafta's Ray Harryhausen 90th birthday tribute at the BFI Southbank last Saturday that special effects makeup maestro Rick Baker took to the stage to offer his praise. For the previous two hours or so, a stunning list of the movie industry's biggest, most innovative and respected names had, in person or via video messages, offered their undying love and gratitude to Harryhausen and his work, all offering incredibly specific tales of when they first encountered his unique contribution to cinema and how greatly it affected them. For Baker, the problem he faced was how could he say anything that had not been already said – even the "we are all children of the Hydra's teeth" line had been used. Twice. So, the six-time Oscar winner asked a question that, upon reflection, is rather terrifying, something no one else there would have dared to even speculate on: What if Ray Harryhausen had never been born? "I'd be asking you if you wanted fries with that ... Peter Jackson would be shearing sheep."

After that it was impossible not to consider how different cinema would be without such an inspiring figure. Just going by the list of acolytes who contributed to the evening alone, we'd have no Star Wars, no Terminator, no Toy Story, no Pan's Labyrinth, no Edward Scissorhands, no Jaws, no Shawshank Redemption, no Wallace and certainly no Gromit. Those are just the collateral damage, without Harryhausen there would be no Jason And The Argonauts, no 7th Voyage Of Sinbad and no 20 Million Miles To Earth. That's not a world I'd want to live in. It wouldn't be much fun.

Hosted by John Landis, who was funny and enthusiastic enough to have made this a memorable night even if no other guests had turned up, it was a joyful and emotional event. I'd even go so far as to say it was historic, legendary. The audience, full of people from Harryhausen's age downwards, all regressing to their nine-year-old selves, cooing and gasping at the clips spanning a unique body of work, as Landis interspersed the footage with an amazing collection of speakers, many of whom had flown across the world to be there: Baker, Randy Cook (Ghostbusters, The Thing), Bond/Hammer girl Caroline Munro, Sir Christopher Frayling, original ILM members Phil Tippet (who showed a special It Came From Beneath The Sea-inspired tribute short), Ken Ralston and Dennis Muren. Muren is the only FX artist, apart from Harryhausen, to have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame: he pulled out his wallet to show a picture of him meeting Harryhausen 48 years ago, a picture he has carried around ever since. Later that evening another ILM graduate told me what a big deal it was for the soft-spoken Muren to have told something so personal to such a large audience. It was a special night for everyone. Peter Jackson made the trip over with some of his early, Harryhausen-inspired home movies, including some sweetly hilarious footage of a 14-year-old him jumping around a New Zealand beach waving a sword – he'd heard for the skeleton fight in 7th Voyage Of Sinbad the live action had be filmed first, so he did the same, except he couldn't figure out how to add the skeleton to his footage, hence the lonely flailing. Read the rest here:

Fantastic Guardian article on Ray's impact

Ray Harryhausen 90th Birthday BAFTA Tribute

The first US manned space flight from Venus crash lands in Sicily causing them to lose their precious cargo of reptilian eggs retrieved from the planet's surface. An Italian zoologist recovers the eggs and watches as one hatches into a rapidly-growing monster. The shocking giant lizard grows so enormous that it threatens the entire city of Rome:

Earth VS The Flying Saucers 1956 - Full Length Film (COLORIZED VERSION)

UFOs from a doomed star system invade Earth with plans of world conquest. Surrender is not an option so the human race must fight to the bitter end.

Epic Adventures Await! Join Sinbad on The Golden Voyage to Discover Mystical Treasures (1973). Embark on a thrilling journey with Sinbad in "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" (1973), a classic fantasy film filled with excitement and wonder. Follow Sinbad, the legendary sailor, as he sets sail on a perilous quest to find a fabled golden tablet that holds the key to untold riches and unimaginable powers. Along the way, he encounters an array of mythical creatures, treacherous foes, and breathtaking landscapes.

The Harryhausen Chronicles (1998)

SUBTITLES IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES.

Behind the paywall; Stop Motion Monster Trailer Reel (1925-1992)

A reel of trailers spanning decades of Western genre and monster films utilizing stop motion animation as their primary FX technique, including the works of such luminaries as Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Jim Danforth and David Allen. As this reel was a little shorter than usual, it includes a few extra tid bits including test footage for O'Brien's scrapped CREATION (1931), footage from Yancy Hendreith's very rare LOST ON ADVENTURE ISLAND (1985) and Will Vinton's nostalgia-inducing DINOSAUR! (1980).