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26 June 2010 (released)
01 July 2010
To mark his 90th birthday; BAFTA and BFI paid a special tribute to legendary cinematic pioneer, producer and visual effects creator Ray Harryhausen on Saturday, 26th of June. The event was hosted by director John Landis; with tributes from key industry figures whose work Ray has influenced.
These included video messages by George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron as well as Tim Burton, Ray Bradbury and Guillermo DelToro. Surprise guest Peter Jackson presented a BAFTA Special Award to Ray.
Too add to the impressive list of guests, Aardman Animations were also present. Aardman animator Nick Park (of ‘Wallace and Gromit’ fame) was inspired to make his first model after seeing Harryhausen demonstrate one of his dinosaurs on TV. The Oscar-winning animator admits to having worshipped Harryhausen since he was a kid.
Harryhausen made his models by hand and shot them frame by frame to create some of cinema’s best known battle sequences, including the skeleton sword fight in 1963’s ‘Jason and The Argonauts’. Further films include ‘The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad’ (1959), ‘One Million Years BC’ (1966), ‘The Golden Voyage of Sindbad’ (1973) and last (but not least) ‘Clash of the Titans’ (1981).
The tribute will be complemented by a season of selected works at BFI Southbank including ‘Mighty Joe Young’, ‘The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad’ and ‘Jason and the Argonauts’, as well as a talk on Harryhausen’s work from friend and film historian Tony Dalton.
Furthermore, an exhibition of Harryhausen’s stop-motion work, titled ‘Myths And Legends’ opens at the London Film Museum on 29th of June. The exhibition includes original models, bronze casts and artwork.
In addition, ‘Clash of the Titans’ and ‘The Golden Voyage of Sindbad’ are being screened at Bafta in Piccadilly on Saturday 10th of July, with a brunch that’s included in the ticket price.
(© Photo of Phil Tippett/John Landis/Ray Harryhausen by B.J.Ritchey)
