Ray Harryhausen obit

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Ray Harryhausen, stop-motion animation master, dies in London at 92

Special effects pioneer inspired film-makers including George Lucas and Peter Jackson with 'sublime and fantastic' creatures.

Stop-motion animation master Ray Harryhausen died Tuesday in London at 92. The Los Angeles-born special effects pioneer famous for his fighting skeletons and cowboy-fighting dinosaurs influenced generations of film-makers.

Harryhausen created complex and inspired monsters in his films including Mighty Joe Young, It Came from Beneath the Sea and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.

His family said in a statement: "Harryhausen's genius was in being able to bring his models alive. Whether they were prehistoric dinosaurs or mythological creatures, in Ray's hands they were no longer puppets but became instead characters in their own right, just as important as the actors they played against and in most cases even more so."

Directors including George Lucas and Lord of the Rings' Peter Jackson credit Harryhausen with inspiring their work. Lucas once said there would be no Star Wars without Harryhausen, and Jackson said: "The Lord of the Rings is my Ray Harryhausen movie. Without his lifelong love of his wondrous images and storytelling it would never have been made – not by me at least."

Filmography

Feature films

    Mighty Joe Young (1949) (first technician)

    The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) (visual effects)

    It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) (visual effects)

    The Animal World (1956) (effects technician, documentary)

    Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) (special photographic, animation effects)

    20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) (visual effects)

    The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) (associate producer, visual effects)

    The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) (visual effects)

    Mysterious Island (1961) (special visual effects)

    Jason and the Argonauts (1963) (associate producer, visual effects)

    First Men in the Moon (1964) (associate producer, visual effects)

    One Million Years B.C. (1966) (special visual effects)

    The Valley of Gwangi (1969) (associate producer, visual effects)

    The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) (producer, visual effects)

    Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) (producer, visual effects)

    Clash of the Titans (1981) (producer, visual effects)

Short films

    How to Bridge a Gorge (also known as How to Build a Bridge) (1942) (producer)

    Tulips Shall Grow (1942) (chief animator) - part of George Pal's Puppetoons

    Guadalcanal (1943) (director, 10 minutes)

    Mother Goose Stories (1946) (producer) (silent with text)

    The Story of Little Red Riding Hood (1949) (producer, animator)

    The Story of Rapunzel (1951) (producer)

    The Story of Hansel and Gretel (1951) (producer)

    The Story of King Midas (1953) (producer)

    The Story of The Tortoise & the Hare (2002) (director, co-producer, animator) (production begun in 1953)

Interviews and acting

    20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) - Man Feeding Elephant (uncredited)

    The Fantasy Film World of Ray Harryhausen (1983) - interview (reissued as Aliens, Dragons, Monsters & Me in 1986 and 1990)

    Spies Like Us (1985) - Dr. Marston

    The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985) - interview

    Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life (1989) - interview[50] made by Ray Harryhausen Foundation Trustee John Walsh

    Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) - Bar Patron #2

    The Harryhausen Chronicles (1997) - interview

    Mighty Joe Young (1998) - Gentleman at Party

    Elf (2003) - Polar Bear Cub (voice)

    Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011) - interview

    Trail of the Screaming Forehead (2007) - himself - presenter

    The Boneyard Collection (2008) - himself (segment "Her Morbid Desires")

    Burke & Hare (2010) - Distinguished Doctor (final film role)

    MENTALLUSIONS: Radical Eclectic Films of Benjamin Meade (2012) - himself