Lords of the Bit – Pg. 10
Sadly – i found out that Ray Harryhausen passed away yesterday. For those who aren’t aware, on page 4 of this very story, I pay a certain homage to him with the cyclops. Harryhausen is one of those guys that you might not even know you knew. If you ever saw the old Clash of the Titans or Jason & The Argonauts – all of those animations that seem kinda cheezy? They were revolutionary at the time, and they were all him. Type his name into google and you’ll see hundreds of pictures of him working on highly detailed models.
Anyway – it wasn’t until his passing that I realized just how influential he’s been to me. I watched Clash dozens of times as a kid, and Sinbad, and Argonauts. I loved that animation style, and still do – so I must assume that his animation is another thing that pushed me towards a love of mythology.
So good night you amazing man – you changed the way we see the world.
James
So many other movie makers have paid homage to Ray. One that sticks in my mind is in “The Mummy”, where they borrow Ray’s skeletal warriors from ‘Jason’. Another is in ‘Monsters Inc.’, when Mike takes Celia to the restaurant ‘Harryhausen’s’.