They Might Be Giants: The Films of Special Effects Artist Ray Harryhausen

Nope. There was no such animal. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was a total fabrication. But you sure coulda’ fooled me when I was 10! And that’s precisely what special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen did!

The magic of “The Beast,” also known as the Rhedosaurus, began in the early 1930s. A young Ray Harryhausen was inspired by the wonderful special effects of Willis O’Brien in the original King Kong. Called “stop-motion,” O’Brien’s technique was a brilliant form of animation that utilized elaborately articulated gorilla and dinosaur models. The creatures were methodically moved ever-so-slightly before being filmed one frame at a time. When the finished film was projected onto a screen, the models appeared as though they were actually alive! They were living, breathing, rampaging giants! Basically, it was magic! Genuine magic!

Harryhausen inherited the magic when he became the sorcerer’s apprentice. O’Brien personally hired Harryhausen to assist in the making of another giant gorilla saga called Mighty Joe Young (1949). Of course, “Kong” remains the better film. Mighty Joe Young is just a little too sentimental and comedic. But it definitely offered the most realistic stop-motion animation of any film up to that time. In fact, it was so good that it garnered an Oscar for special effects. No doubt, the award was largely due to the efforts of Ray Harryhausen.

So now it’s 1953 and the aforementioned Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is apparently as tall as a New York City tenement (which, by the way, it readily destroyed)! A truly awesome monster, the dinosaur’s demise amidst the debris of a hugely burning roller-coaster is breathtaking! Even now, nearly 60 years later, Harryhausen’s special effects for the film remain unsurpassed. Interestingly, “The Beast” was loosely remade in 1958 when Willis O’Brien himself created The Giant Behemoth! Actually, as rip-offs go, it’s a reasonably decent film. However, O’Brien’s assistant at the time, a fellow named Pete Peterson, probably did most of the animation for The Giant Behemoth.

It Came fom Beneath the Sea in 1955, “It” being a giant “sextopus” (it was a “sextopus” rather than a true octopus because Harryhausen felt that it would simply be faster and easier to animate 6 rather than 8 tentacles. Besides…who’s gonna notice?). In one unfortunate scene, this ho-hum affair offered a decidedly questionable special effect of a plainly transparent frogman! Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) provides better special effects, such as the flickering light of a forest fire reflecting off the smooth metal surfaces of the saucers! Harryhausen upped the ante in 1957 when he brought a rapidly growing monster 20 Million Miles to Earth from the planet Venus! This exciting gem features a battle between an elephant and the giant reptilian star of the film, followed by an explosive climax atop the Roman Colosseum! What more could you want from a monster movie?!

Harryhausen’s first color film, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), is an unforgettable fantasy that features a giant, two-headed eagle, an equally giant horned cyclops, and a very impressive fire breathing dragon! But a surrealistic sword fight between Sinbad and an un-dead skeleton is definitely the best sequence in the film! Backed up by a grand score by Bernard Herrmann, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is not to be missed!

The first two Harryhausen films of the 1960s, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), and Mysterious Island (1961), are polar opposites. There is certainly nothing wrong with The 3 Worlds of Gulliver. The special effects are as brilliant as ever. It’s just that the film is… Well… It’s based on “Gulliver’s Travels.” Of course, if you like the Jonathan Swift story, you’ll probably love The 3 Worlds of Gulliver. On the other hand, Mysterious Island is an exciting adventure that offers excellent special effects involving a giant bird, an equally giant crab, and numerous giant bees! With another outstanding score by Bernard Herrmann, Mysterious Island is an extremely entertaining film.

Many fans of the work of Ray Harryhausen believe that Jason and the Argonauts (1963) is his best film, a view with which I wholeheartedly agree. It’s a great adventure that offers breathtaking battles with things like a giant walking statue, a multi-headed dragon, and human-sized bats! But Harryhausen returned to one of his earlier films for the inspiration to the greatest special effects battle ever created! The sword fight with the skeleton in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad was so stunning that he expanded it to seven skeleton warriors in “Jason!” To say the least, the scene is breathtaking! Bottom line: Jason and the Argonauts is a must-see classic!

First Men in the Moon (1964) is a modest but decent film that features things like a giant caterpillar and human-sized roaches! One Million Years B. C. (1966) offers great animated dinosaurs, especially an extremely realistic Allosaurus. Dinosaurs returned to center stage in a 1969 variation of King Kong called The Valley of Gwangi (“Gwangi” being the name of a rampaging Allosaurus). One of my favorite Harryhausen films, “Gwangi” borrows heavily from some of Ray’s earliest successes. A cowboy round-up of the dinosaur harkens back to a similar scene in Mighty Joe Young. Gwangi’s battle with an elephant comes from 20 Million Miles to Earth. And just like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, the Allosaurus dies in a huge fire. It all works because the special effects are absolutely brilliant! All things considered, The Valley of Gwangi is irresistibly entertaining!

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) don’t compare to The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, but they certainly have their merits. It hardly matters that they tell similar stories. Harryhausen’s special effects are, as always, outstanding. With threats like a horned troglodyte, a saber toothed tiger, a massive walrus, and a sword fighting statue with multiple arms, both films provide all the fun and excitement any Harryhausen fan would ever desire! I advise you not to miss them!

Finally, 1981 saw Ray Harryhausen’s last film with Clash of the Titans. Under his guidance, assistants created most of the animation. But it still has terrific special effects throughout. I particularly enjoy the oversized scorpion and python-like Medusa sporting a head full of writhing snakes! However, the climactic “clash” between a giant sea serpent and Medusa’s severed head is a short, limp, and decidedly disappointing affair. Be that as it may, Clash of the Titans is beautifully made and for the most part, very entertaining. It WAS and IS an impressive exclamation point to Ray Harryhausen’s extremely brilliant career.

There you have it stop-motion fans. A short but sweet look at the incomparable work of the one and only Ray Harryhausen. As far as I’m concerned, you can keep CGI. Absolutely nothing compares to the special effects of Jason and the Argonauts! And on that note, I think I’ll go fire up the ol’ DVD player this very moment and spend the rest of the afternoon with “Jason.” So…please excuse me…I need to put some popcorn into the microwave…

Blair Kramer is a widely published writer for various publications, including “Velocity: Chicago,” “A Guide to Art in Chicago,” “Comic Book Collector Magazine,” “American Metal Magazine,” and the “Jewish American Historical Society.” He also dabbles in screenplays and comic books. There are only two things in his life that he loves more than good movies. They are his wife and family.