Ray Harryhausen is considered by special effects directors and movie directors in general to be the father of stop motion animation. He made realistic looking monsters appear on the big screen and brought to life many dreams of fellow directors. He brought to life many monsters with their fluid movements. Whenever a monster was a screen it appeared natural and realistic. Compared to older movies which used close ups of actual animals, Ray implemented mythical creatures and made them seem like they belonged in our world.
One of his most memorable creatures was the cyclops from “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad”. The cyclops was a one eyed creature that had legs like a satyr (which is a human whose lower half is horse-like in some ways). The cyclops had movements that seemed normal for a creature of it’s anatomy and viewers could tell what the creature was feeling when they saw his face. The fact that the cyclops had one eye and still gave emotion through just his facial expressions is a true testament to the work of Ray Harryhausen.
Ray himself could be considered an actor in this movies due to the fact that he had to record every action of every monster he filmed. He himself would have to move the monster frame by frame. It was as if he were the monsters himself. He used his studio at home and spent time doing these scenes by himself. His models were a manifestation of himself in a sense. He gave life to them and he illustrated their emotions through what he wanted them to be. Like a real actor if he wanted to change something in a certain shot then he could do that through the movements and the faces of the monster. Ray Harryhausen is truly not just a king of stop motion but a god of stop motion and he will be remembered for centuries as such.
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