http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22441567 Well this sucks, but he had a good run. His Jason And The Argonauts was always a great favourite of mine, and it was an honour thyat he actually painted the cover for the last issue of the sequel comic, which I wrote, back in 2005 or so. Guess I'll be watching the original movie again in tribute...
I attended an SF con once where the GOH's were Ray Harryhausen, Ray Bradbury, Forrest J. Ackermann, and Julius Schwartz. My wife swears to this day my feet never touched the ground the entire weekend, I was so high on Cloud 9.
Who could forget such great fun as The Valley Of Gwangi? [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lISoHbcpaZY[/yt]
Yeah, a good run, still sad. Think of all the imaginations he fired with his films over the years. Great stuff. Good work, that man.
I've posted the following in a few other Harryhausen threads I've encountered, so if the text seems familiar, it probably is. It’s a tad uncanny that the Sony Movie Channel just wrapped up a month long tribute to Harryhausen, airing a majority of his films as well as a 90 minute retrospective (made just last year, 2012) containing recent interviews with Ray (who still seemed sharp as ever) and several of the filmmakers he inspired like Spielberg, Cameron, Peter Jackson, and others. At least he was recognized while he was still alive and coherent enough to appreciate the honors. Plus, people like director Peter Jackson (at personal expense, I believe) and others helped to preserve his legacy, his models, his test footage, molds, castings, etc. before they were lost, damaged or destroyed. Jackson even used the resources of WETA to have items like his rubber coated figures digitally scanned before they decompose. How many creative people have died in obscurity, forgotten? Or, if they are remembered, it’s years after they’ve passed when the acknowledgments do them little good. In that respect Harryhausen was very fortunate. His films certainly influenced my childhood. And should senility ever strike me (Mogg forbid), I suspect my memories of his fabulous creatures will be some of the few I retain. Sincerely, Bill
It's too bad that this man couldn't do the FX for a movie version of John Carter Of Mars-I'll bet that it would have been outstanding. Despite my disagreeing with what he said in an issue of Starlog back in the 1980's, he was a great filmmaker, and I salute him.
Ray Harryhausen and Ray Bradbury are together again..forever 18 years old and still loving dinosaurs.. Requiescat in pace Ray, your movies made many a sleepless night far fun for this kid back in the 60s and 70s..
Jason and the Argonauts! Gotta love those sword fighting skeletons! Always loved Valley of Gwangi too.