Publisher's Synopsis
Ray Harryhausen's animated creatures sparkled with predatory alertness and subtle quirks of behavior that stamped each character with a distinct and memorable personality. His use of stop-motion animation - a method of animating clay models and puppet - brought dinosaurs and monsters to life on the silver screen.;Many animators and special effects wizards, like Phil Tippett of Jurassic Park and Jim Aupperle of Dinosaurs who are still working on prehistoric-based films, openly credit Ray Harryhausen as one of the figures who influenced their careers. His films are famous for being among the very best of the genre. The first chapter of this book chronicles Harryhausen's formative years and development as an animator, exploring the paleontological accuracy of his saurian creations from a modern perspective. The next four chapters cover his four feature-length dinosaur films, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, The Animal World, One Million Years B.C. and The Valley of Gwangi.;These chapters provide extensive information about all aspects of the staging of their stop-motion content and many additional facets of the overall production process. A chapter on his work and experiences in the 1970s and beyond discusses The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, which is not a saurian film, but does include the bat-winged homunculus and flapping pterosaurs. The tome concludes with a dinosaur filmography.
