STACK #193 Nov 2020

FEATURE FILM

CHILDREN OF THE HYDRA’S TEETH

Alongside Kong’s dramatic final battle atop the Empire

State Building in the 1933 classic King Kong , the skeleton fight at the conclusion of Jason and the Argonauts (1963) is the most famous stop-motion animation sequence in the history of cinema. Harryhausen – a student of Willis O’Brien, the animator who brought Kong to life – had already built and animated a skeleton in The 7 th Voyage of Sinbad, but in Jason and the Argonauts he wanted seven to feature in the memorable climax.

Ray Harryhausen’s incredible stop-motion animation work inspired a generation of filmmakers. George Lucas: “Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no Star Wars .” James Cameron: “I think all of us who are practitioners in the arts of science fiction and fantasy movies now all feel that we’re standing on the shoulders of a giant. If not for Ray’s contribution to the collective dreamscape, we wouldn’t be who we are.” Peter Jackson: “ The Lord of the Rings is my Ray Harryhausen movie. Without his lifelong love of his wondrous images and storytelling, it would never have been made – not by me at least.”

In the scene, King Aeétes confronts Jason and two of his Argonauts after they have just killed the monstrous seven-headed Hydra. Scattering the teeth of the slain beast on the ground, Aeétes summons an army of skeletons that rise from the earth: “Kill, kill, kill them all!” he bellows. What follows is a desperate fight to the death between the reanimated bones and Jason and his men, set to a compelling score from Bernard Herrmann. To achieve the effect, Harryhausen enlisted the help of sword master Fernando Poggi (who also plays one

of the two Argonauts). Poggi worked with the animation master to choreograph the fight, using stuntmen wearing numbered sweatshirts as a guide in place of the skeletons. Once the sequence was thoroughly rehearsed, it was shot sans stuntmen; the three men fighting their imaginary opponents using a handclap beat to determine the length of the scene. Harryhausen constructed a further six skeletons to join the one he had previously created and began animating the 10-inch models against the back projection plate of the live-action fight. It was painstaking work for the animator, who on some days would only harvest a second’s worth of film after a full day’s work. The sequence in the film runs for just over four minutes, yet the animation took Harryhausen four and a half months to complete. Despite the challenges, Harryhausen declared the skeleton fight as one of his favourites. His only regret was that he didn’t film the battle at night for additional effect and atmosphere, fearing the censorship board would deem it too frightening for children.

inflicts some major damage on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Working with a low budget, Harryhausen built the octopus with only six tentacles – which he called “a sixtopus” – and purchased a model ship for the sinking sequence from a variety store.

as animating the distinctive saucers, he also orchestrated the destruction they wreak – notably the climactic attack on Washington, D.C., which Harryhausen fan Tim Burton

would later recreate in his 1996 film Mars Attacks! . THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER (1960) Based on Jonathan Swift’s classic 1726 novel, castaway Lemuel Gulliver’s adventures on the islands of Lilliput and

• The Ray Harryhausen Ultimate Collection is out on Nov 18

Brobdingnag were largely achieved using forced perspective, oversized sets and foreground miniatures. Harryhausen contributed a stop motion giant squirrel and crocodile, and his patented Dynamation process was upgraded to ‘Super- Dynamation’ to sell this visually ambitious adventure to audiences.

Harryhausen revealed that he had visited a ufologist (that’s a UFO expert) to consult on spacecraft designs for the alien invasion flick Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956). As well

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