Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life

Inspired by the film King Kong at the age of 13, Ray Harryhausen knew his future lay in special effects. Following on from his mentor Willis O'Brien—Kong's creator—Ray took the art and skill of stop-motion animation one step further, weaving his magic on dinosaurs, aliens, and mythological creatures. The last great animator before the introduction of CGI explains the pleasures and pitfalls of 60 years bringing inanimate objects to life in this intimate account. Learn how Raquel Welch was picked up by a flying dinosaur in One Million Years BC; why the octopus in Mysterious Island only had 6 tentacles; and discover what Medusa's blood was made from in Clash of the Titans. From the flying harpies in Jason and the Argonauts to battling skeletons in the 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Ray explains the creation of a number of famous films, taking them from original concept through to the critics' reviews. Anecdotal, insightful, and honest, this essential autobiography features hundreds of photographs from Ray's personal archive. It explains the basics of special effects and stop-motion animation, what working with the film stars of the day—such as Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, and Lionel Jeffries—was like, and how his creations were really the stars of the movies.