20 Million Miles to Earth – Movie review and tribute

Part of the “Keep Watching the Skies” Blogathon from Cinematic Frontier – Click on logo at right to see more entries of 50’s sci-fi classics!

 

20 Million Miles to Earth

directed by Nathan H. Juran
produced by Charles Schneer
Special effects by Ray Harryhausen

starring:
William Hopper
Joan Taylor
Frank Puglia

 

A US rocket returning from Venus crashes near a fishing village in Italy. Before it sinks beneath the waters depths, a young boy finds a strange figure encased in a gelatinous egg. He trades it to a zoologist and the next day it hatches an amazing little creature. However, this is the 1950’s so rest assured it won’t be ‘little’ for long; it will grow to monstrous proportions. It’s a testament to the amazing work of Ray Harryhausen that the directors of his films are mostly forgotten, but his name and his work lives on. He created a unique creature for this film, part reptilian, part humanoid and part alien, taken from its natural habitat to fend for itself in a strange new world.

Stop-motion animation from Harryhausen (as well as Willis O’Brien) was not Claymation. They did not use clay. They used a metal armature with movable joints, like a skeleton. It was then covered with foam and latex rubber enabling it to hold detail and fixed markings while maintaining flexibility for lifelike movement. For mammals the artists would add hair. You couldn’t get such good detail and movement with clay. Some stop-motion animation involved clay, (Gumby) and others involved wooden puppets (Rankin Bass holiday specials). However, Ymir was made with the aforementioned rubber layers and molds over skeletal design. Another big aspect to the magic of stop-motion monster films (one that it shares with Toho’s suitmation effects) is the building of miniature sets. You will see actors running down the street on location, then the monster chasing them on that same street. However, that same street is a miniature version in a studio for which the stop-motion filming can be conducted upon.

Ymir’s humanoid expressions manipulated by the talented and patient hands of Harryhausen, gave the creature empathy. We see shock, disappointment, anger, fear, desperation, all within the reactions of the beast; wide eyes, roars, hand and arm gestures, posture, all used to communicate without words. Because of this, most who see the film feel sad for Ymir’s demise, cringing at the sound of gun shots that bring him down. Ymir’s fight with a zoo elephant brought a special realism to the film and a sense of scale. Ray’s self-drawn storyboards choreographed a tense battle that intercut real elephant footage with his own recreation of the huge mammal.  This was perhaps the greatest creature battle since Kong fought the T. Rex some 25 years previous. Shadows of Ymir will show up in later Harryhausen creatures, the body is similar to his Cyclops in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and his face is similar to the Kraken from Clash of the Titans. The wonderful long tail seems like a prerequisite for the snake-like Medusa. As with most 50s sci-fi/horror, there is a sub-plot following a budding romance concerning, Colonel Robert Calder, the only survivor from the space mission, and the zoologist’ s daughter, Marisa, played by the lovely Joan Taylor.

Charles Schneer was a good friend to Harryhausen and an advocate for his fine craft, working with him on nearly a dozen films. This was Ray’s fourth film depicting giant monsters rampaging through cities. The first was his work under his mentor, Willis O’Brien in Mighty Joe Young. Following that was Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and It Came from Beneath the Sea. Ray and Charles Schneer would move into fantasy adventure films after this, depicting mythological figures in his Sinbad films and other tales of ancient lore.

To younger generations, stop-motion FX doesn’t seem so real. That was part of the charm for our generation. We knew there was an art involved with making these beasts come to life. These FX artists didn’t just copy motions and images from real animals and put it into the creature’s digital repertoire. They infused the model’s movements with their own personality and mannerisms. It’s like the difference between a digital photo of a human face and the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa isn’t perfect and that’s what makes her so. That’s what gives her soul and personality. You can sense Ray’s soul and personality through these films, the creator, the adventurer, the craftsman, and the boy with wide eyed wonder at endless possibilities.

 

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They recently digitally colorized the film and it looks like they did a decent enough job. However, I still prefer to watch it in b&w, the way Ray made it.

Once again, be sure to check out the Keep Watching The Skies Blogathon for more 50’s movie classics!

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Joan Taylor meets a new friend

lobby card

matching and recreating humans from live action

the big battle

natural enemies

not Ray’s but a good example of an armature

(c) from the Dianne and Ray Harryhausen collection

Ymir keeps growing

Ray’s business card

novelty item for fans

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Parlor of Horror’s ‘Creature Feature’ reviews

 

My Top 5 Dinosaur Movies, other than Jurassic Park.

My Top 5 Dinosaur World Movies, other than Jurassic Park

In preparation for Jurassic World, you may want to catch up on the genre of Dinosaur films. For this list I am speaking of dinosaur worlds, not just single dinosaurs that have been awakened in modern times for the purpose of a film. Dinosaur worlds include; Islands, continents, planets, prehistoric times, underground caverns, etc. I’m also talking about real dinosaurs for the most part, animals that once roamed the earth, not fictional beasts created for sci-fi films.

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5) Planet of Dinosaurs (1977)
We got some beautifully crafted dinosaurs in this film. One of the final forays into stop-motion dinosaur extravaganzas, it is a cult favorite for dinosaur fans. The script and plot ain’t so great but the bevy of fantastic creatures make it worth a viewing.
Dinosaurs: Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Rhedosaurus, Ceratopsian, Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Kentrosaurus, Allosaurus, and Struthiomimus

 

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4) The Land that Time Forgot (1978)

The dinosaurs in this film aren’t perfect but this film gets the nod for variety of species and prehistoric beasts. The dinos were scale rod-puppets which made interaction with humans minimal, the giant pterodactyl that carries off the caveman being the exception. A good story penned by Edgar Rice Burroughs lands this in the Top 5. Extra points for the awesome movie poster!
Dinosaurs: Mosasaurus, Plesiosaur, Diplodocus, Pterodactyl, two Allosaurus, two Styracosaurus, Ichthyostega,  Triceratops,  Ceratosaurus

 

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3) When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)
With Victoria Vetri running around in a dino hide bikini, it would be hard to take notice of the dinosaurs. However, these dinos are noticed because of their fabulous renditions in stop-motion artistry. The stop-motion dinos were the work of Jim Danforth. There’s not a lot of dinos in the film but they are top notch-Danforth’s work in this film rivals the greats, Harryhausen and O’Brien.
Dinosaurs: Plesiosaur, Chasmosaurus, Rhamphorhynchus, A carnivorous dinosaur based on the Scelidosaurus, (and it’s baby). 

 

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2) King Kong (1933)
This is the first mega dinosaur-land presented to the public at a time when most people didn’t have a clear picture of what dinosaurs looked like and were just discovering these creatures. The T. Rex is a fast moving, active beast as described by Charles R. Knight, not the slow sluggish reptiles other scientists were in favor of portraying. The film made Willis O’Brien the father of stop-motion special effects and giant monsters, influencing future directors and filmmakers, Ray Harryhausen, Ishiro Honda, Peter Jackson, Steven Speilberg, and Tim Burton, to name a few. Marcel Delgado built O’Brien’s models and was largely responsible for capturing the look O’Brien wanted for the dinos (and Kong).
Dinosaurs: Pteranodon, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, Styracosaurus (edited out), Elasmosaurus and although he’s not a dino, King Kong

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1) One Million Years BC (1966)
Although given moderate praise through the years, this film contains some of Ray Harryhausen’s most impressive dinosaurs. I think the special effects were overshadowed by Raquel Welch and her fur bikini – (the original furkini, accept no substitutes!). But take a look at the beautiful renditions of the Triceratops and Brontosaurus and you’ll see some master craftsmanship. I’d like to mention that the models were sculpted by Arthur G. Hayward with direction from Ray and designed from Ray’s artwork.
Dinosaurs: Archelon, Brontosaurus, Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Triceratops, Pteranodon, Rhamphorhynchus

 

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Honorable Mentions:
Valley of Gwangi (1969)
Once again Harryhausen applies his talents to prehistoric beasts with great success.

 

 

Dinosaurs (2000)
Despite being a Disney film with talking dinos, it has some great scenes and dino imagery.

 

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OK, want to see some more dino pics? Here ya’ go!

Because this post is about Dinosaurs, I’m going to refrain from posting yet another pic of Raquel in her fur bikini. But if you really want to see one look here!

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

Scelidosaurus – a variation was used in When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

the land that time forgot

planet of dinosaurs

one million years BC

Harryhausen artwork depicting scene in film

Ray Harryhausen

models for the film King Kong 1933

never made the final edit

Rare Dinosaur films and where to find them

Rare and obscure Dinosaur films and where to find them

This post is for those interested in special FX, stop-motion animation, and for dinosaur film enthusiasts. The films here would probably not be considered highly entertaining in this day and age without the enjoyment of nostalgia and cinema history. Although some of these can be found on Youtube, my quest was to own copies. You never know when they will be pulled from Youtube because of some copyright dispute.

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The Animal World (1966) – Documentary
The Animal World is a documentary by Irwin Allen (famous for his 1970’s disaster movies, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure) attempting to show the scope of animal evolution from the beginning of time to date. It is all live footage except for a ten minute sequence in the beginning showcasing Dinosaurs. They hired Willis O’Brien for the project who then handed off much of the work to his underling (at the time), Ray Harryhausen. This ten minute sequence featured a Stegosaurus, two Ceratosaurus, a Brontosaurus, a T. Rex and a Triceratops. It is the highlight of the film with some wonderful bloody dino battles and an extinction meteor-hit/volcano sequence. I had originally seen these Dinosaurs on a View Master 3d viewer, because the film itself was rarely played on TV, nor was it easy to get in later years on VHS. Amazingly you can find the entire Harryhausen/O’Brien Dinosaur sequence in the dvd special features of The Black Scorpion.

 

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Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955) (1966 US) – Documentary
The 1st time I ever saw this may have been either in school during a science class, or on one of the early educational public broadcast stations, like the ones Sesame Street plays on. Three boys leave the Museum of Natural History, get on a raft and as they float downstream they go back in time. Along the shore we see eras going from the Ice Age to the Age of Dinosaurs as the boys enter periods of misadventure trying to find their way home. This is a hard to get Czeck-made film but I found it on VHS after considerable searching. Hunt for VHS version on Ebay and I-Offer.

 

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The Lost World (1925)
The full-length silent movie can be found on the special features DVD of The Lost World (1960) (Irwin Allen). This was Willis Obrien’s first feature film based on the Sir Author Conan Doyle classic adventure. In the end, the crew brings a Brontosaurus back to London.  The beast goes on a rampage through the streets. This definitely feels like a precursor of things to come. Eight Years later, O’Brien would lead his greatest beast into the streets of NYC for the epic film, King Kong (1933).

 

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The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1919)
This is another early Willis O’Brien film, a short (approx. 20 minutes). It demonstrates Obie honing his skills at creating/animating dinosaurs while telling an entertaining story (for the time). A man tells his nephews a tale from when he was a boy. There was a mountain top that, if you climbed it, you could see the events of prehistoric times. It has quite a few dinosaurs in it and you can notice the progression of Obie’s rising talents by watching this great little film and comparing it to future movies. It is a silent film so it wouldn’t be to everyone’s liking, but there were aspects I enjoyed. I kinda’ enjoy most things with Dinosaurs, though. You can find the movie in the special features of Planet of Dinosaurs.

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Dinosaurs, The Terrible Lizards (1970) – Wah Chang’s, – Documentary
The Terrible Lizards is a docu-film showing the life of dinosaurs, created and produced by Wah Chung. It was most likely a very good documentary at the time but now seems more applicable to children‘s viewing. A lot of the science is now dated but the visuals are interesting. Another interesting aspect about the film is one of the models was later used as the star dinosaur in the 1970’s children show, Land of The Lost (1974) (Grumpy). Wah Chang worked visual and special fx on a multitude of sci-fi movies including, Planet of the Apes (1968), The Time Machine (1960), Jack the Giant Killer (1962) and Star Trek (TV Series), and of course, the Land of the Lost TV series (1970‘s). He was also an un-credited puppet designer in both, The Black Scorpion and Tarantula. I hope to on day get a better quality version but for now, you can see the whole “Dinosaurs” documentary here on Youtube:

Gallery 1: The Animal World

extinction in 3D thanks to View Master

View Master set uses Animal World dinos in 3D

Another View Master set

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Gallery 2: Journey to the Beginning of Time (1966)

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Gallery 3: The Lost World (1925)

Professor Challenger and his team

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Gallery 4: The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1919)

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Gallery 5:  Dinosaurs, the Terrible Lizards (1970)

The Top 5 Women in Dinosaur and Fantasy films from Yesteryear

My Top 5 Women in Dinosaur and Fantasy films from Yesteryear

(films 25 years and older)

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5) Jane Seymour – Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger – as Farah
If playing chess with an intelligent Mandrill isn’t enough, she comes face to face with a troglodyte, a giant walrus, and a saber tooth tiger.

4) Victoria Vetri – When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth – as Sanna
She escapes being sacrificed to the sun god, clashes with the dark-haired tribe, and eventually makes friends with a dinosaur, all while just barely keeping her tighter-than-a-glove bikini top on. (note: in the uncut version, the bikini top does come off.)

3) Caroline Munro – The Golden Voyage of Sinbad – as Margiana
The tattooed eye on her hand calls forth the great Cyclops centaur for a battle of good vs. evil. A handful of 1970’s Hammer horror films playing alongside Lee and Cushing and even bigger roles in At the Earth’s Core (Amicus) and Star Crash clinch the spot for her.

2) Fay Wray – King Kong – as Anne Darrow
She is the ultimate damsel in distress, taken by force, but enduring and surviving a savage world.

1) Raquel Welch – One Million Years BC – as Loana
It was the fur bikini that entranced the world. A young Raquel Welch becomes a star despite not a single word of dialogue in the film.

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Honorable mentions:

Jessica Lange – King Kong (1976) – as Dwan

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Barbara Bach – Caveman (1981) – Lana

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Tanya Roberts – Sheena, Queen of the Jungle (1984) – as Sheena

recommended by Bubbawheat, http://flightstightsandmovienights.com/

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Martine Beswick, also from One Million Years BC (1966)

suggested by Alharron

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Your suggestions for honorable mentions are welcome.

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Also check out:
My Top 5 Women in Sci-Fi flicks of yesteryear

I will be doing a Top Five Women in Horror flicks of Yesteryear soon…

20 Million Miles To Earth – Ymir – Model Kit

20 Million Miles To Earth – Ymir – Model Kit

This is the Geometric, Ymir model kit. It’s a fantastic kit with excellent detail.

It was fun painting the kit because the skin detail really worked well with dry brushing techniques. I started with a dark green base coat and worked with lighter greens and finally yellow for highlights.

It didn’t come with a base so I made a custom base for it.

I made the title placard with clay. I printed out the movie title image and pasted it on.

 

And don’t forget to watch the video inspired by this kit: Monsters on the Mantle

Monster Wars – Model on the Mantle

Monster Wars – Episode One
Monster Model on the Mantle

Ok, so here’s a short video I posted on youtube. Any married man that has his guy toys should be able to relate to this. The wives’ never want our guy things in the general expanse of the home; they think they should stay relegated to the man cave or specially cordoned room. See what happens when I try to expand my influence into the rest of the house…

The video gets a little shaky in the middle. I didn’t want the wife to know I was recording. I’ll post some better pics of this model at a later date.

The model is Ymir, 20 Million Miles to Earth by Geometric

Model Kits – Aurora Prehistoric Scenes – Giant Bird

Aurora Prehistoric Scenes

Giant Bird – Phorohacos

I bought this kit ‘new’ and complete in the box. It was originally released in the early 1970’s in the second wave of Aurora Prehistoric Scenes kits. It was never re-released so any that you may see on the market would be original Aurora product. This one cost me a bit more than others because of its new (unused) condition.

The only problem in building, which I remember from when I was a kid, was getting the body top (back) in place. It never seemed to fit exactly right. This prompted me to use super glue to build the kit so that piece would dry in a minute and not ‘pop’ off or move to a crooked position while drying overnight.

I always liked this kit because it was the same giant bird as in the Schneer/Harryhausen feature, Mysterious Island (1961). I built it as instructed with no modifications.

Be sure to check out all my other Aurora Prehistoric Scenes build-ups:

Allosaurus, Cro-magnon Man, Cro-Magnon Woman,  Neanderthal Man, Sabertooth Tiger,

 

Creature Features revisited – Flying Saucers Attack

Creature Features revisited – Flying Saucers Attack

A look back at the golden age of sci-fi, the 1950‘s. Our subject today… Flying Saucers Attack!

Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956)

In this film, Ray Harryhausen applies his stop motion animation to a non-living thing for the first time, Flying Saucers! The film has an almost documentary feel to the b&w scenes of Giant Saucers attacking Washington DC which adds to the appreciation of Harryhausen’s work. Military stock footage of firing weapons and a battleship encounter was used to maximize authenticity. Aliens shoot down several satellites for which scientist, Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) is investigating with his wife, Carol (Joan Taylor). A saucer lands at a science lab and is immediately fired upon by the military, escalating an inevitable battle. Flying Saucers appear in the skies over London, Paris, Moscow, and DC. In a coordinated attack the begin firing at the cities and people. However, Dr. Marvin has devised a weapon to penetrate their force-fields and fight against the invaders. The amazing scenes of saucers destroying the Capitol building, and crashing into the Washington Monument are classic 50’s Sci-fi images and were most likely frightening to folks at the time it was released. Ray does quite a bit of explaining about how he captured those scenes in the special features on the dvd and blu-ray. On a side note: Joan Taylor also starred in 20 Million Miles to Earth.
 

War of The Worlds (1953)

Technically, these are not saucers but shaped more like manta-rays. This is often called George Pal’s adaptation of the H.G Wells classic for which he was the producer, but it was directed by Byron Haskin. Bryon Haskin had worked on special effects for The Outer Limits, so he was no slouch. It’s fair to say that it was the combination of both men that brought WOW to life. It was granted a big budget, enabling them to film in color during a time when most Sci-fi films were only b&w. It starred Gene Barry and Ann Robinson as Dr. Forrester and Sylvia van Buren. Everyone knows the story, a meteorite shower drops a bunch of space stones all over the damn planet. In LA, where this film version is set, a guy pokes a meteor with a stick. It hatches a flying saucer thingamajig. The saucers spend some time in the valley gearing up for a war as the earthling scientists study them. Then they attack, destroying everything in their path. This is a wonderful version of the story and a great example of the Golden Age of Sci-Fi. However, with today’s Hi-def, digital dvd/blu-ray, super-clear technology, you can see the wires holding up the alien craft. I never saw any wires when I saw it as a kid – though I probably would have ignored it if I did. But, just to make sure, I asked some older individuals about it and they say, No, the wires were not visible when they saw the film in theaters nor when it was on TV in the early years. So, if you do see the film today with its ‘better than 20/20 vision’ resolution processes, just be aware that you will see the wires.

Trivia notes:
1) Gene Barry and Ann Robinson made a cameo at the end of the Spielberg version (2005) as the grandparents in Massachusetts.
2) In the 1953 version, when the first meteorite/war-crafts fall form the sky an image of Woody Woodpecker can be seen hiding in a tree, center screen. This is an homage to George Pal’s good friend, Walter Lantz, creator of Woody Woodpecker.

Battle in Outer Space (1959)

This is an Ishiro Honda film that portrays the UFO invasion with the type of destruction that only Toho Studios would be capable. The alien race has an anti-gravity weapon that is demonstrated by a train wreck caused by train tracks lifting off the ground, an ocean liner lifting out of the panama canal, and a flood in Italy. When the Japanese Space Station is destroyed, the ‘world community’ works together to battle the invaders. The battle escalates on the Moon and soon spills onto earth. Saucers come down to destroy buildings and launch meteor torpedoes at New York and San Francisco. The American rockets equipped with Japan’s ‘heat ray’ weapon launch to defend earth. A dogfight ensues in space that is something to see, considering the year it was made. It reminds me of Star Wars as UFOs and rockets battle. Laser beams and death rays crisscross the screen in some high action sequences. Though the film doesn’t share the same intimacy or character involvement that the other films in this post have, it is worth a look-see for fans of 1950’s sci-fi and Toho Films. This film was a loosely based sequel to The Mysterians, although they never mention a previous UFO attack in this film.

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Earth vs. The Flying Saucers Gallery:

War of The Worlds (1953) Gallery:

Battle in Outer Space Gallery:

Creature Features revisited – the ’It’ Movies

Creature Features revisited

A look back at the golden age of sci-fi, the 1950‘s. Our subject today…

The ‘It’ Movies:

It Came from Outer Space (1953)

Despite the fact that the creature doesn’t seem to be on the same level with special-fx for its time, this film is still a classic because of a good script and some good acting. ‘It’ is a one-eyed bulbous creature with many cottony flaps hanging from it like a jellyfish. It floats across the ground at its victims. Many times it floats toward the camera because this film was Universal’s first 3D movie. A spacecraft crashes in the Arizona desert. A young couple, Carlson and Ellen, see the crash from their cabin in an impressive scene. Convinced it is a meteorite, Carlson heads to the impact site and witnesses a craft of some kind before it is buried in the earth by a cave-in. Soon, several of the townspeople disappear. When they come back they are mindless automatons collecting various metal and electronic devices for unknown reasons. Sherriff Warren becomes suspicious and forms a posse to hunt down the intruders. Carlson descends into an abandoned mine where he makes contact with the beings. They communicate to him that they have crash landed by accident and will leave as soon as they collect enough items to rebuild the damaged ship. However, the posse has killed two aliens and it is not known how the creatures will retaliate. The film was based on a short story by Ray Bradbury called ‘The Meteor.’ It was directed by Jack Arnold (Creature From the Black Lagoon) and stars, Richard Carlson (Creature from the…) and Barbara Rush (When Worlds Collide). There are a couple of scenes where you can see the wires, especially in HD, but it still holds up as a good 50’s sci-fi/horror classic.

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

This is a joint venture between Sam Katzman and Charles Schneer. It features the stop motion effects of the late, great Ray Harryhausen. Hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean drives the Giant Octopus out of its natural habitat. As radioactivity drives away its food supplies the beast finds nutrition from other sources. Getting the taste for humans early in the film when it attacks a shipping vessel, it then heads to the populous areas on the US west coast. It attacks San Francisco in a dramatic scene on The Golden Gate Bridge. There is the classic 1950’s love triangle mingled into this film between Navy Officer, Pete Mathews, Professor Carter and marine biologist, Leslie Joyce but it is somewhat underdeveloped. In the end the two men have to work together to detonate a hand delivered torpedo deep within the brain of the Giant Octopus in a tense underwater scenario. Stars Kenneth Tobey (The Thing from Another World), Donald Curtis (Earth vs. The Flying Saucers) and Faith Doumergue (This Island Earth). The dvd features wonderful special features which include Harryhausen talking about budget restraints making it only possible for him to animate six tentacles on the beast, instead of eight. He also talks about the San Francisco mayor’s reluctance to have the Golden Gate Bridge seen in the film being destroyed. This forced the film to scrap several shots that were to be taken on the bridge itself.

It, The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

I love that this film starts with a narrator telling us it is the future, 1973, and man has landed on Mars. A spaceship is sent to rescue a previous mission that has gone bad. They find one survivor, Col. Carruthers, and inform him that he is suspected of murdering the rest of his crew. He insists that it wasn’t him; that it was some alien life form, but the crew argue that no life has been found on the planet. He is confined to his cabin for the four month journey home but the crew soon realize they have made a mistake. The humanoid creature enters the ship before take off.  Now it hunts and kills the crew members one at a time as it makes its way though each locked level of the ship. It seems indestructible until a dangerous and sketchy plan to destroy it is devised. There are only a few crewmembers left and at their last level, with no where else to run. The similarities to the plot of Riddley Scott’s Alien are notable. The scaly reptilian creature design was very good. There are some fantastic set designs and the director’s use of shadow and light creates much of the tension and suspense. You are rooting for the crew members to defeat this ugly creature but ‘It’ keeps coming like an unstoppable terror. Directed by Edward L. Cahn, who also did She-Creature, which wasn’t quite as good.

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Past Creature Feature Posts:

There Be Giants! 

Giant Robots

Giant Bugs!

Ray Harryhausen, dies, May 7th 2013

Ray Harryhausen, dies, May 7^th 2013

As of the passing of special-fx wizard, Ray Harryhausen, I’d just like to show my tribute by listing all of the wonderful movies he has worked on in his many years. Although he hadn’t worked in the field in his later years, he was a creative inspiration to modern animators such as Tim Burton, Jim Danforth, Sam Raimi and Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit)

Thankfully, Ray was finally recognized for his creative body of works with an Honorary Academy Award in 1992. He passed away Tuesday in London at age 92. Thank You, Ray, for your wonderful gift to the history of motion pictures.

Monster and Sci-fi films

Mighty Joe Young (1949) (Under the supervision of Willis O’Brien)

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

The Valley of Gwangi (1963)

One Million Years B.C. (1966)

The First Men in the Moon (1964)

Earth vs. The flying Saucers (1956)

The Animal World (documentary) (1956) (all dinosaur sequences)

 

Mythology and Fantasy

The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960)

Mysterious Island (1961)

The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974)

Sinbad and The Eye of the Tiger (1977)

Jason and The Argonauts (1963)

Clash of the Titans (1981)

If you were to purchase any of these films on Blu-ray or dvd, they are loaded with excellent documentaries, interviews, and behind the scenes features.

The full dinosaur sequence of The Animal World is one of the special features on The Black Scorpion dvd.

Other posts featuring Ray Harryhausen films:
Creature Features – Dinosaurs Invade 
Creature Features – There be Giants
The Legacy of Kong