Ray Harryhausen turns 92 today!
His professional idol was Willis O'Brien, who had animated the character known at the time as the tallest, darkest (but not quite handsomest) hero in film, King Kong. As a rising animator himself, young Harryhausen became buddies with like-minded fans Ray Bradbury and Forrest J. Ackerman. His first major film work was on Mighty Joe Young in 1949, a sort of remake of King Kong with a more cuddly main character; Willis O'Brien was the technical director on that film, thus uniting the mentor and the student.
What Harryhausen mastered was the art of mixing stop-motion with live action. He thrived in the 50s and 60s, becoming unquestionably a film legend. It could be said that this is his signature work, the skeleton sword fight in 1963's Jason and the Argonauts. Watch it and keep in mind that there was no such thing as CGI when this film was made! (I wish CGI always looked this good.)
Happy 92nd, Ray H!
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