RIP Ray Harryhausen - June 29th, 1920 - May 7th, 2013

Good things always seemed to be book ended by bad things and vice versa, right? At around 6 pm on May 7th I was en route to the hospital... but for all the right reasons. My sister in law Kate and her husband Rich (two of my favorite people in the world) were on the way to having their first child. As we sat there, eagerly anticipating the arrival of little Richie, we had nothing but time on our hands. I sat on my tablet and surfed the Net, looking at the many websites that I peruse on a daily basis. I stumbled upon an article that brought me down instantly... Ray Harryhausen was dead at age 92. Fuck. At some a great moment of my life, a moment of pure joy for my family, all I could do was think how sad it was to lose a true talent like Harryhausen. Sure, he had lived a very full and excellent life. Sure, he has been heaped with praise both critically and from his peers for decades. These are things that should make you smile when you think about someone after they pass. But I immediately thought back to my early childhood, Clash of the Titans, and how a certain effects guy changed my life forever...

Please continue reading after the jump...

I Could Listen To Ray Harryhausen Talk About His Work For Hours...

I love learning a little bit more about the magical world of Ray Harryhausen and his stop motion creations.  This interview is from 1974 and takes a look into the creation of such iconic creatures as Kali from The Seven Voyages of Sinbad, the Hydra from Jason & the Argonauts, and the Alosaurus from 1 Million Years BC. But the highlight of the interview has to be the big reveal that Harryhausen created a claymation Raquel Welch for 1 Million Years BC as well, and the cool way he handles the claymation creatures when explaining how his crew achieves movement with the still life monsters. A great flashback to a time when Hollywood was truly making magic WITHOUT computers. Check out the video after the jump....