 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
A LASTING IMPRESSION
What filmmaker of an earlier generation wields such enormous
influence over today's movie elite that there are homages
to him in two high-profile summer movies?
 |
| Ray Harryhausen
and Ray Bradbury are clearly enjoying themselves
at a screening of The Lost World in September of
1997. |
The answer is Ray Harryhausen, and it's no secret that
a generation (or two) of boys grew up in the thrall of
his movie magic, as displayed in such films as The
7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts,
and Mysterious Island. (Nearly all of his films
have now been released on DVD.)
Tributes to the master of Dynamation abound in recent
movies. Ray made a cameo appearance in the remake of Mighty
Joe Young, alongside the original movie's leading
lady, Terry Moore; Joe was the first major film
on which he worked. Last year, the folks at Pixar named
a Monstropolis restaurant after him in Monsters, Incorporated.
A gladiator-style scene in Star Wars Episode 2: Attack
of the Clones is intended to invoke the memory of
a Harryhausen classic. As George Lucas told me, “There
are two shots in that scene that are set up exactly like
7th Voyage of Sinbad. We did that on purpose.
Ray Harryhausen obviously looms very large in the special
effects world, and a lot of us grew up on him. We very
purposely made an angled shot of Obi-Wan fighting the
big crab with a stick, as a tip of the hat.” And
Robert Rodriguez has put a multiple-skeleton swordfight
reminiscent of Sinbad in Spy Kids 2: The
Island of Lost Dreams, giving thanks to Harryhausen
in his closing credits.
Harryhausen's influence is obvious, but he wouldn't have
pursued a career in fantasy films had he not seen Willis
O'Brien's extraordinary animation in King Kong
when he was a boy. There is a direct line from Kong
to Harryhausen to today's movie magicians, and the sense
of continuity is tangible. Phil Tippett, who animated
the amazing Land Walkers in The Empire Strikes Back
and ED-209 in RoboCop, grew up on Willis O'Brien
thirty years after Harryhausen, and wound up creating
the dinosaurs for Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.
Peter Jackson, who has made movie history with The
Lord of the Rings, cites King Kong as his
all-time favorite film (and came very close to remaking
it a few years ago).
 |
| Here is
a rare pressbook herald for The Lost World (1925)
that gives only the slightest indication of the
film's enormous appeal. |
Kong was also a touchstone in the life of Harryhausen's
lifelong friend, science-fiction master Ray Bradbury.
I've been lucky enough to get to know both Rays in recent
years, and what strikes me most about them is their youthful
spirit. They've never lost their enthusiasm, and that
is surely the secret of their success.
One of the greatest moviegoing experiences of my life
was seeing the George Eastman House's long-awaited restoration
of The Lost World in 1997. Even in the wake of
Jurassic Park, Willis O'Brien's raw, primitive
animation remains dramatic and astonishing...and the storyline,
based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel, is an ageless
template for fantasy filmmakers. But for more than sixty
years, The Lost World of 1925 existed only in
truncated form, cut nearly in half for home-movie distribution.
With the support of stop-motion and dinosaur fans
around the world—and a timely check from another
aficionado, Hugh Hefner—the Eastman House
|
|
|
Find out more about Leonard's brand-new newsletter.
|
 |
It's
Movie Crazy, too.
|
was finally able to piece together a nearly-complete version
of this silent classic. Having owned an 8mm
print of this movie when I was a kid, and memorized every
frame, the private Los Angeles screening, at the Walt
Disney studio, took on Holy Grail-like status.
But what made it even more special, for me and the movie
industry professionals who attended that showing, was
the presence of Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen. They
were just as excited as anyone in the room.
If there's one ingredient missing from many of today's
so-called blockbusters, I think it's passion—the
kind of overriding passion that inspired the first generation
of movie pioneers, who lit a fire in the imagination of
the next wave of filmmakers. And if I were to offer advice
to Hollywood's youngest moviemakers and wannabes, it would
be this: watch King Kong and The 7th Voyage
of Sinbad. See how engaging, how involving, how much
fun they still are; then try to make movies that will
entertain and inspire as they did.
|
| Back
to Home Page |
|
|
|
|
