Ray Harryhausen, whose stop-motion animation made monsters come alive in films from the 30’s through the 80’s, has passed away, his family has announced. He was 93.
Stop-motion may be cheesey to those of us who grew up in the post-Star Wars era, but Harryhausen’s work – the most famous of which is perhaps the fighting skeletons of Jason and the Argonauts – was hugely influential. (Though to this 80s’ kid, it’s his Medusa in the original Clash of the Titans who kept me up at night!)
“Ray has been a great inspiration to us all in special visual industry. The art of his earlier films, which most of us grew up on, inspired us so much,” said George Lucas. “Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no Star Wars.”
Ray Harryhausen was a wizard. i loved Jason and the Argonauts and the 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
I was fascinated by “Clash of the Titans.” And many of the models hold up to this day.
Kinda wild.
I was born in 1987, and I still find Harryhausen’s work to be all kinds of awesome. In fact, I still slightly regret dropping Film Studies at A-level (UK equivalent of high school) – I would have done Harryhausen for my auteur project …
I guess what I’m trying to say is, Harryhausen was great. RIP.
Ray Harryhausen was the best in the West.
Clash of the Titans and Jason and the Argonauts were the best surprises when they came on television.
I love in Attack of the Clones when Obi-Wan fights the Acklay, that sequence really channeled Ray Harryhausen in the best way.
Jason: when i saw the Acklay, that’s what i thought too… giant crab attack! giant scorpion attack!
Clash of the Titans scared the crap out of me as a kid thanks to Ray’s brilliant work with Medusa.
Growing up, Jason and the Argonauts and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad were on TV on what it seemed like every other weekend. Loved ’em to death.
RIP