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A few weeks back, I had the chance to go watch “Clash Of The Titans” starring Sam Worthington (the AVATAR guy) as Perseus. Yeah, the hype was that it was in 3-D. And that the CGI special effects were awesome!
To tell you the truth, as the movie ended, I walked out of the theater feeling disappointed. Good thing that I watched it during a weekday before noon which caused me only $5.00 instead of the $9.00 (if I had watched it over the weekend). In fact, I was so disappointed that I had to desperately insert the 1980s version that evening to sooth my troubled mind.
It was the panacea. What a difference!
Sure the 80s version was stop-motion animation. Sure it was a little artificial looking sometimes. But it was gold! Because it was the work of Ray HarryHausen – the maestro of stop-motion animation special effects.
There have been several stop-motion animation wonders through the celluloid years. The 1925 version of Lost World introduced Willis O’Brien to the world and he perfected the art with the all-time classic King Kong in 1932.
But it was Ray HarryHausen who brought the skilled art to a higher level. His first celluloid success was in Mighty Joe Young (1949) interestingly with Willis O’Brien. Mighty Joe Young won Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Other classics by the maestro followed. Here are a few of his accomplishments – Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, It Came From Beneath The Sea, Earth Vs The Flying Saucers, 20 Million Miles To Earth, Valley Of Gwangi, the Sinbad series (7th Voyage Of Sinbad, Golden Voyage Of Sinbad, Sinbad & The Eye Of Tiger), Jason & The Argonauts, Clash Of The Titans, One Million B.C.
Why does stop-motion animation still thrill me?
I don’t exactly know.
Maybe it’s the tremendous patience needed to get it working. Bend a part of the figurine a little. Snap a picture. Bend it a little more. Snap a picture. Repeat it about a gazillion times. I actually did this with a toy robot and I remember it being hard.
Maybe it’s the meticulous “storyboard” vision that is needed. How will the moving figurine fit with the live actors? And look realistic.
My brain hurts just thinking about all the work involved!
My hats off to the maestro for his patience and skill.
Maybe it’s the thrilling, warm feeling I still get remembering the times when a mouth-gaping mini-me watched the dinosaurs and monsters growling for the first time. Maybe that’s it…
Here’s a sample of the magic involved. This is the skeleton army battle scene from Jason and the Argonauts. Courtesy of Hausen. Amazing!
No. I’m not against CGI. I love it. I appreciate the hard work and vision needed for the task. I’m still shaking my head in wonder watching every frame of AVATAR.
But I will always have a soft spot for the good ‘ol stop-motion animation which I’m afraid is becoming a disappearing art.
Just as a parting gift, here’s another of Hausen’s wonderful rendition. Sinbad’s fight with
the multi-armed Kali…
