2020-06-29

CommemoRAYtion.

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the founder of DYNAMATION, Ray Harryhausen.


As a result, I've watched several movies over the weekend thanks to a Facebook Daikaiju Fanpage. (I think it's invite only so you'll have to seek it out yourself.) It was easier than breaking out my DVDs, Such as The Black Scorpion.

  

Doh! I just double checked, Ray had nothing to do with the above though his mentor Willis O'Brien did work on it. One movie I hope to watch later is The Animal World animated by both he and Ray. The ten minute sequence is an extra on it.

(Here's a snippet:)



Along with the above movie, it also included my favourite, The Valley of Gwangi. I've watched it recently so I gave it a bye. I will show you my Allosaurus/Tyrannosaurus mix that came with the set.



I just finished watching one documentary (this one) and hope to view this one later.



I watched bits of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, I need to re-view and review it.


My DVD set also included Them! No Harry in that movie but it did come with its very own ANT.



I broke out my Harryhausen sets just to be sure of which ones I have in order to maximize my viewing pleasure. Set I:



As you can see, the Cyclops was a bonus with this set.




I watched Eye of the Tiger but not the other two Sinbad flicks this time around. Let's take a moment to remember the adorable empathetic actress, Taryn Power, granddaughter of Tyrone Power, she passed away on June 26th, 2020.


It also includes a Murder Hornet of which I snapped a few pics.





Set II includes Jason and the Argonauts, I watched it recently as well.




I did watch Earth vs The Flying Saucers, one of the better UFO films it was homaged in Mars Attacks.


Now showing on the marathon is 20 Million Miles to Earth. I watched most of it yesterday and now I'm watching it on my phone as I type this.


Ymir, the Venusian, came with the set.


Set III includes The Three Worlds of Gulliver which I don't ever recall seeing before. I will definitely watch this later in the week because the Bernard Herrmann score is wonderful.





Next up is It Came from Beneath the Sea, a terrific movie with a catastrophic calamari. I watched it in the marathon. (Too lazy to break out the DVD.)


The third movie is Jules Verne's Mysterious Island with yet another excellent Herrmann score and not a Murder Hornet but rather a Killer Bee.



Hey, this set has a fourth movie, First Men in the Moon another movie I saw recently.


For some reason, the figure that came with this set is not from any of the above movies yet rather is Kali from The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.


Here is Kali's fight scene.



Does this look familiar?



In the third box set, there was a postcard with which you could send away for several figures. Too bad I was only 18 years late to use it.


Fortunately, I managed to complete the set by buying the figures individually.


The Moon Cow from First Men in the Moon.


The sextopusRay couldn't afford to animate all eight limbs.



The Centaur from The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.



Three out of six of the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts:



I like how they all have their own distinctive shields.




Hey, I'm watching Ymir now!



A slightly different pose of the Cyclops.



A Flying Saucer and one of its inhabitants.



Talos also from Jason.



Ah man, according to that postcard, there's also an extra SECRET one, Kali. I never saw it. (Now the internet search begins...)

In the marathon, I also watched Mighty Joe Young for the first time in years. I need to find a copy of this. I also watched a movie I'd never seen before, The Strange World of Planet X  also known as Cosmic Monsters. (Meh.) Ray Harryhausen shows up in the credits, uncredited. Another movie I don't own but have seen several times is Clash of the Titans. Six years ago on this very day, I posted photos from the movie pamphlet.


I do have a copy of the other main feature that Ray worked on, One Million Years B.C., with the infamous poster from Shawshank Redemption. I recently watched this one as well.



I just happen to have some more figures from Columbia Heritage.


These two smaller ones include our old friend Ymir.


And another Skeleton.


And I have two from a set of larger ones.


 Including, you guessed it, Ymir on the operating table.


And a Harpy from Jason.


The marathon continues but I have to go to bed soon. There are several shorts included such as Guadacanal which I did watch.



I also saw Tulips Shall Grow which is pretty creepy.
(I'd like to go to Amsterdam.
Wooden shoe?)



There were a few shorts that I did not get a chance to see including The Story of Hansel and Gretel. But thanks to YouTube, I can watch it tomorrow.



Nor did I see The Story of Rapunzel.



Similarly, I didn't watch The Story of Little Red Riding Hood.



Thank you public domain...Now you can watch them too.

Happy Birthday, Ray Harryhausen! Hopefully I'll be able to fill in the gaps of my DVDs and figures before 101.

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