I’m sad to report that special effects legend Ray Harryhausen has died at the age of 92. Many of you won’t recognize the name, but you’ve almost certainly seen his work: he did the effects animation for the 1933 classic King Kong! He also worked on a number of Sinbad movies, and animated a particularly difficult scene in 1963’s Jason and the Argonauts, which involved a battle between several human warriors and SEVEN animated clay skeletons.
Ray was one of those people who was both low-key and wildly influential. He was deeply passionate about his work, and he enjoyed the recognition he received, but the recognition wasn’t his motivation. He loved the fantasy genre, and really wanted to bring it to life on the screen. The net result is that he influenced more filmmakers and special effects artists than he ever would if he’d aimed to do so. Spielberg, Landis, Lucas…they were all inspired to do what they’ve done by Ray. There would likely have been no Star Wars without his influence. (There is irony there… his work in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger was released the same year as Star Wars. Guess which got all the attention.)
When I was young, I was pretty much addicted to his films. Sure, the clay animation didn’t look REAL, but it was still pretty dang cool, and I appreciated the work that went into it. Check out the aforementioned Jason sometime — that entire scene was done with actors fighting nothing, then Ray laboriously animating the skeletons INTO EACH INDIVIDUAL FRAME, by hand. Like Ray, I loved the fantasy genre and wanted it brought to life. Unlike Ray, I lacked the patience and talent to work that magic.
I never developed much artistic talent, but I’ve at least learned some patience. It’s gone a long way toward building a solid amateur radio emergency response community — relationships with public service and our fellow hams take time and effort. But they are worth it in the end.