History Creator / RayHarryhausen

* ''Film/TwentyMillionMilesToEarth'' (1957) - Alien/elephant battle

Inspired by the works of Willis O'Brien (''Film/TheLostWorld'' and ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'' most notably), he became the most prominent StopMotion animator in the film industry and worked on such classics as ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', three ''Sinbad'' films (''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'', ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' and ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger''), as well as some of the most notable dinosaur films of the pre-''Film/JurassicPark'' era. A lesser known fact: most of the settings in these films were made using [[MatteShot matte painting]], another visual effect technique he was a master of.

* Fantastic plots: ''Jason'' and ''Clash'' are both adapted from Myth/ClassicalMythology, the ''Sinbad'' movies come from [[ArabianNightsDays Arabian myths]][[note]](with some classical mythology monsters thrown in the mix; the Islamic Golden Age was heavily influenced by Greek ideas)[[/note]] and ''Film/OneMillionYearsBC'' is set in a [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology prehistorical world where humans and dinosaurs coexist]].

** ''Film/TheValleyOfGwangi'' (1969) - Allosaurus/styracosaurus battle

* ''Film/TheValleyOfGwangi'' - [[TheWestern Cowboys]] [[CoolVersusAwesome versus]] [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaurs]], noted for the epic scene where the cowboys rope the eponymous Allosaurus.

* ''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'' - Swashbuckling [[SeaStories nautical]] fantasy adventure in ArabianNightsDays. His first full-length color film, and TropeCodifier for Harryhausen, introducing one of his most iconic creatures : the [[DemBones living skeleton]], as well as a {{Cyclops}}, some two-headed RocBirds, and a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent flightless dragon]]. Despite its title, this was the first of three films Harryhausen would make about Literature/SinbadTheSailor.

* ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'' - Another nautical fantasy swashbuckler, this time a SwordAndSandal adventure based on Myth/ClassicalMyth. This was Harryhausen's first world-recognized achievement occurs with a bronze giant and a battle with 7 skeletons. It took him several days to film one second of film--and he got the scene done in a single take! Also one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s and most iconic of Harryhausen's films. Creator/TomHanks has [[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/movies/ray-harryhausen-cinematic-special-effects-innovator-dies-at-92.html called it]] the greatest movie ever made.

* ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms'' - While not the first [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever monster to attack a city]], it was the first monster to be [[ILoveNuclearPower created by The Bomb]]. [[InNameOnly Very loosely based]] on the short story of the same name by Harryhausen's friend and fellow guy-named-Ray, Creator/RayBradbury. Because of the movie's success and only vague connection to the story, Bradbury renamed his work "The Fog Horn" to differentiate the two.

* ''Film/TwentyMillionMilesToEarth'' - Please stop harassing the Ymir. Harryhausen later authorized the [[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion colorization]] of ''Film/ItCameFromBeneathTheSea'', ''Film/EarthVsTheFlyingSaucers'' and ''Film/TwentyMillionMilesToEarth''. The colorized versions were released as a DVD box set, with the option of watching the films in the original black and white.
* ''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'' - His first full-length color film, and TropeCodifier for Harryhausen, introducing one of his most iconic creatures : the [[DemBones living skeleton]].

* ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'' - Harryhausen's first world-recognized achievement occurs with a bronze giant and a battle with 7 skeletons. It took him several days to film one second of film--and he got the scene done in a single take! Also one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s and most iconic of Harryhausen's films.
* ''Film/TheFirstMenInTheMoon'' - Victorians InSpace meet [[BeePeople Ant People]] on the moon.
* ''Film/TheValleyOfGwangi'' - [[TheWestern Cowboys]] [[CoolVersusAwesome versus]] [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaurs]], noted for the epic scene where the cowboys rope the eponymous Allosaurs.
* ''Film/OneMillionYearsBC'' - Often noted more for Raquel Welch in a FurBikini than for Ray's special effects. But they're very good effects. Supposedly, the archelon model had a lot of critics complaining that Harryhausen used [[{{Slurpasaur}} a real turtle]].
* ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' - Epic scenes include a statue of Kali swordfighting Sinbad with all ''six arms'' and a [[OurCentaursAreDifferent centaur]]-{{cyclops}}. Also notable for being the film that brought Creator/TomBaker (who played the evil magician Koura) to the attention of the producers of ''Series/DoctorWho''.
* ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger'' - Sinbad goes to a LostWorld and battles a giant saber toothed cat.

* ''Film/SpyKids2IslandOfLostDreams'' has a skeleton army too; the titular setting, full of creatures of varying sizes and natures, wouldn't be out of place in the Harryhausen canon either. Although most of it is done with CGI, it's CGI that is designed to capture the look of stop motion.

* ''Sinbad: The 5th Voyage'' is a GenreThrowback to the aforementioned Harryhausen ''Sinbad'' movies, going as far as using actual stop motion animation(albeit far more technologically advanced) for the creatures.

* An episode of WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers has them transported to ancient Rome where they face off against a Cyclops that looks Harryhausen-esque, even moving as if stop motion animated.

* Creator/PhilTippett's SurrealHorror stop-motion series ''Mad God'' has a statue of the cyclops show up in one scene.

* ''Film/JurassicPark'' has a scene where the ''Tyrannosaurus'' lunges out from cover, grabs a ''Gallimimus'', and shakes it to death in a manner very similar to the titular character from ''Film/TheValleyOfGwangi'' ambushing a ''Struthiomimus''.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode ''Little Gift Shop of Horrors'', [[{{Expy}} Harry Claymore]] animated stop-motion skeletons and a cyclops for the film ''The Voyages of Loinclothiclese''. [[spoiler: Which is to say he used black magic to bring to life actual-size clay monsters, which turned on him after the advent of computer animation.]]

* Fantastic plots: ''Jason'' and ''Clash'' are both adapted from Myth/ClassicalMythology, the ''Sinbad'' movies come from [[ArabianNightsDays Arabian myths]][[note]](with some classical mythology monsters thrown in the mix nonetheless)[[/note]] and ''Film/OneMillionYearsBC'' is set in a [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology prehistorical world where humans and dinosaurs coexist]].

* [[MsFanservice Gorgeous actresses]]: Raquel Welch in ''Film/OneMillionYearsBC'', Caroline Munro in ''The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'', Jane Seymour and Taryn Power in ''Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger''...

** ''Film/SpyKids2IslandOfLostDreams'' has a skeleton army too; the titular setting, full of creatures of varying sizes and natures, wouldn't be out of place in the Harryhausen canon either.

* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' did a Jason and the Argonauts story which climaxed with a battle against (CGI) Skeletons in Harryhausen fasion.
* Scenes from both ''The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'' and ''Valley of Gwangi'' have been used in the Newsflash game on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''

These {{adventure}} movies would often be more showcases for Harryhausen's talent than anything else, and they had several similarities:

* ''Film/ItCameFromBeneathTheSea'' - [[EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods Giant Octopus attacks San Francisco]]. Notably, the City Fathers didn't want to have their newly built [[MonumentalDamage Golden Gate Bridge]] destroyed in the film for fear it would show the bridge being a weak structure. The producers filmed guerrilla-style and put it in anyway. The octopus only has six tentacles, to save on animation time.

* ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'' - Harryhausen's first world-recognized achievement occurs with a bronze giant and a battle with 7 skeletons. It took him several days to film one second of film--and he got the scene done in a single take! Also one of the [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifiers]] and most iconic of Harryhausen's films.

* ''Film/EarthVsTheFlyingSaucers'' - AlienInvasion done with little subtlety. Some of the most iconic MonumentalDamage occurs in this movie when Washington is attacked, including a saucer crashing into the Washington monument and knocking it onto people as well as a Saucer destroying the dome of the Capital Building. Footage from this movie later showed up in several [[BMovie rather less well done SF films]] like ''Film/TheGiantClaw'' and ''[[Film/TheThreeStooges The Three Stooges in Orbit]]''. It also showed up in the classic ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 Twilight Zone]]'' story "To Serve Man".

* ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'' - Ray's swan song, featuring his last act in the Medusa battle done by flickering firelight. The complexity of that scene wows FX artists to this day.

* Many of his effects were reused in famous television series--most notably ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' reusing his Flying Saucers in ''To Serve Man.''

Inspired by the works of Willis O'Brien (''Film/TheLostWorld'' and ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'' most notably), he became the most prominent StopMotion animator in the film industry and worked on such classics as ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', three ''Sinbad'' films (''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'', ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' and ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger''), as well as some of the most notable dinosaur films of the pre-''Film/{{Jurassic Park|1993}}'' era. A lesser known fact: most of the settings in these films were made using [[MatteShot matte painting]], another visual effect technique he was a master of.

Inspired by the works of Willis O'Brien (''Film/TheLostWorld'' and ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'' most notably), he became the most prominent StopMotion animator in the film industry and worked on such classics as ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', three ''Sinbad'' films (''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'', ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' and ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger''), as well as some of the most notable dinosaur films of the pre-''Franchise/JurassicPark'' era. A lesser known fact: most of the settings in these films were made using [[MatteShot matte painting]], another visual effect technique he was a master of.

Inspired by the works of Willis O'Brien (''Film/TheLostWorld'' and ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'' most notably), he became the most prominent StopMotion animator in the film industry and worked on such classics as ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', three ''Sinbad'' films (''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'', ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' and ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger''), as well as some of the most notable dinosaur films of the pre-''Franchise/JurassicPark'' era. A lesser known fact: most of the settings in these films were made using [[MatteShot matte painting]], another special effect technique he was a master of.

Inspired by the works of Willis O'Brien (''Film/TheLostWorld'' and ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'' most notably), he became the most prominent StopMotion animator in the film industry and worked on such classics as ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', three ''Sinbad'' films (''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'', ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' and ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger''), as well as some of the most notable dinosaur films of the pre-''Franchise/JurassicPark'' era. A lesser known fact: most of the settings in these films were made using [[MatteShot matte painting]], another technique he was a master of.

These {{adventure}} movies would often be more showcases for Harryhausen's talent than anything else, but they had several similarities:

* ''Film/EarthVsTheFlyingSaucers'' - AlienInvasion done with little subtlety. Some of the most iconic MonumentalDamage occurs in this movie when Washington is attacked, including a saucer crashing into the Washington monument and knocking it onto people as well as a Saucer destroying the dome of the Capital Building.
** Footage from this movie later showed up in several [[BMovie rather less well done SF films]] like ''Film/TheGiantClaw'' and ''[[Film/TheThreeStooges The Three Stooges in Orbit]]''. It also showed up in the classic ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone Twilight Zone]]'' story "To Serve Man".
* ''Film/TwentyMillionMilesToEarth'' - Please stop harassing the Ymir.
** Harryhausen later authorized the [[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion colorization]] of ''Film/ItCameFromBeneathTheSea'', ''Film/EarthVsTheFlyingSaucers'' and ''Film/TwentyMillionMilesToEarth''. The colorized versions were released as a DVD box set, with the option of watching the films in the original black and white.

* ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'' - Harryhausen's first world-recognized CrowningMomentOfAwesome occurs with a bronze giant and a battle with 7 skeletons. It took him several days to film one second of film--and he got the scene done in a single take! Also one of the [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifiers]] and most iconic of Harryhausen's films.

* ''Film/TheValleyOfGwangi'' - [[TheWestern Cowboys]] [[CoolVersusAwesome versus]] [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaurs]], noted for the epic scene where the cowboys [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome rope the eponymous Allosaurs]].

* ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'' - Ray's swan song, featuring his last CrowningMomentOfAwesome in the Medusa battle done by flickering firelight. The complexity of that scene wows FX artists to this day.

** ''Film/SpyKids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams'' has a skeleton army too; the titular setting, full of creatures of varying sizes and natures, wouldn't be out of place in the Harryhausen canon either.

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' has several Greek myth units based directly on Harryhausen's version of them - cyclops, bronze giants and Medusa, for example.

* ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'' - Ray's final feature, featuring his last CrowningMomentOfAwesome in the Medusa battle done by flickering firelight. The complexity of that scene wows FX artists to this day.

Inspired by the works of Willis O'Brien (''FilmTheLostWorld'' and ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'' most notably), he became the most prominent StopMotion animator in the film industry and worked on such classics as ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', three ''Sinbad'' films (''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'', ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' and ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger''), as well as some of the most notable dinosaur films of the pre-''Franchise/JurassicPark'' era. A lesser known fact: most of the settings in these films were made using [[MatteShot matte painting]], another technique he was a master of.

Inspired by ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'', he became the most prominent StopMotion animator in the film industry and worked on such classics as ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', three ''Sinbad'' films (''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'', ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' and ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger''), as well as some of the most notable dinosaur films of the pre-''Franchise/JurassicPark'' era. A lesser known fact: most of the settings in these films were made using [[MatteShot matte painting]], another technique he was a master of.

Raymond Frederick "Ray" Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was a visual effects pioneer and a genius in his field. Inspired by ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'', he became the most prominent StopMotion animator in the film industry and worked on such classics as ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', three ''Sinbad'' films (''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'', ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' and ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger''), as well as some of the most notable dinosaur films of the pre-''Franchise/JurassicPark'' era. A lesser known fact: most of the settings in these films were made using matte painting, another technique he was a master of.

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' has several Greek myth units based directly on Harryhausen's version of them - Cyclops and Medusa, for example.

* The video for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's "Burn It Off" is a pastiche of Harryhausen movies, with members of the band chased by CGI versions his monsters (especially the skeletons) around an island and on a ship.
* The Hoosiers song "Worried About Ray" is named for him, and the video even features stop motion creatures reminiscent of Harryhausen's works.

Raymond Frederick "Ray" Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was a visual effects pioneer and a genius in his field. Inspired by ''Film/KingKong1933'', he became the most prominent StopMotion animator in the film industry and worked on such classics as ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', three ''Sinbad'' films (''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'', ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' and ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger''), as well as some of the most notable dinosaur films of the pre-''Franchise/JurassicPark'' era. A lesser known fact: most of the settings in these films were made using matte painting, another technique he was a master of.