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Gabby, stunned at the life-like might of a rotoscoped hand in the Fleischer Bros.' GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
Having roundly belittled the recent, Jack Black-infused version of GULLIVER’S TRAVELS, Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons turn their sights to other, earlier versions of the fantasy classic. Of a slate that includes an animated version from the Fleischers, [...]

Watch the Video of the BFI and BAFTA special achievement award presented to RAY HARRYHAUSEN on the occasion of the master animator’s 90th birthday. This fabulous 42 minute minute video includes comments from James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Guillermo Del Toro, Nick Park Frank Darabont, John Landis, and more.

Produced during Ray Harryhausen’s most fruitful period, THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER is one of the special effect artist’s most overlooked films, obscured by the fact that it arrived in between such famous titles as THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (my two personal favorites of Harryhausen’s). Partly this is [...]

The concept of a single artesian working away in monkish solitude might seem quaint by today’s standards – think of the end credit roll on Avatar with its thousands of digital effects technicians – but Ray Harryhausen was able to create a wonderful world of monsters and myths using nothing more than his hands and [...]

– Stop-Motion Great Turns 90 –
Today, June 29th 2010, is Ray Harryhausen’s ninetieth birthday.
Special effects innovator, stop-motion animator, concept artist, story generator, producer, and a genre icon, responsible for many of the more imaginative science fiction films and fantasies that shaped 20th century cinefantastique.
Beginning (from the genre fan’s point of view) with 1949’s MIGHTY JOE [...]

We’re a day late but not a dollar short with this, the eighth episode of Cinefantastique’s weekly Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Podcast. Due to technical difficulties, podcast host Dan Persons sits out this episode, but he joins regular contributors Lawrence French and Steve Biodrowski in spirit as they analyze the new big-budget remake of [...]

With the re-make of Clash of the Titans hitting theaters this week, Warner Bros. has released the original 1981 film on Blue-Ray disc. To celebrate, here is part V of my interview with Ray Harryhausen, discussing his hand-crafted approach to creating the film’s special visual effects.

Old legends never die; they just fade away…
Ray Harryhausen with the Medusa model from the 1981 CLASH OF THE TITANS
Over at NJ.com, Stephen Whitty has an interview-profile of Ray Harryhausen, the legendary special effects maestro responsible for the original version of CLASH OF TITANS. The 90-year-old Harryhausen is a major influence on today’s fantasy filmmakers, [...]

20,000 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957) is one of the early black-and-white science fiction films from Ray Harryhausen, the special effects expert who used stop-motion techniques to bring numerous monsters to life throughout his long career. Thanks to Google Video, you can watch this classic example of his work for free. It’s all about an [...]

If you asked me what I thought Ray’s greatest achievement was, I’d say that in my mind it has been his whole life, his entire career. He is the finest animator that ever existed.
—Ray Bradbury

Ray Harryhausen’s latest book, A Century of Stop Motion Animation (Watson–Guptill) arrived in bookstores last November without much fanfare; Harryhausen did [...]

While surfing around the Internet, I stumbled upon DVD Beaver’s comparison of the various discs of 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD. The fantasy classic, featuring stop-motion monsters by Ray Harryhausen, is available in three different versions: Columbia Tri-Star’s DVD (from 1999), Sony’s 50th anniversary DVD, and Sony’s 50th anniversary Blu-ray (both of which were released last [...]

An affection tribute to one-half of the team that brought some of the movies’ most memorable monsters to life
Jason and the Argonauts
“Some people say Casablanca or Citizen Kane. I say Jason and the Argonauts is the greatest film ever made.”
Tom Hanks affectionately spoke these words while on stage at the 1992 Academy Awards ceremony for [...]

7th Voyage of Sinbad, produced by Charles H. Schneer
Charles H. Schneer – the producer of 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and numerous other science fiction and fantasy films – passed away on January 21, at the age of 88.
Schneer’s filmography includes over twenty-five titles, but he will be most remembered for the twelve movies he produced [...]