You might not know the name Ray Harryhausen, but you will know the Special Effects Titan after you watch this documentary about his illustrious career this Wednesday at 8p on the Sony Movie Channel.
Back in 1933, a 13 year old Ray went to see King Kong in the theaters and his life was forever changed. After he saw that movie, he decided that he wanted to make the creatures that like the big ape for the cinema. It was from then on, that he started making dinosaurs in his house and creating his own films with them.
Then after he got out of the military a chance meeting got him into the biz, and the movie industry was changed forever.
He came up with a new way to make Stop Motion look more real and because of that he inspired the greatest directors of our time. Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Tim Burton and Peter Jackson all talk about how his work on movies like Mighty Joe Young, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts all influenced them.
But not only do you hear their stories, you hear Harryhausen’s story about how he made some of the most memorable Stop Motion movie creatures you have ever seen. You hear how he came up with the creatures and how he made them look as real as possible. Listening to his tales, is so cool to any fan of Hollywood movies. Because without his brilliance, who knows what films would’ve looked like. He changed them for them better.
One of the coolest parts of this documentary comes at the end when you see the actual size of these creatures. After hearing him talk about it, and seeing what he did you’d think they would be life-size, but in reality they are about the same height of a Barbie doll.
If you have seen any movie that you loved with a monster or a spaceship, then you are going to watch Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan on Wednesday at 8p on the Sony Movie Channel.
