Ray Harryhausen

Special effects artist; visual effects pioneer; master of stop-motion animation -- via comingsoon.net. Another great shaper of my imagination, along with Ray Bradbury, who was Harryhausen's boyhood pal!

Passed the torch by his mentor and inspiration, Willis O'Brien ("King Kong"), Harryhausen pushed the art form to its limit over the course of 30-plus years in the movie business. It may seem quaint now, but his monsters, gods, and mythical creatures enthralled us when we were kids. Whether the film itself was good or no was usually about a 50/50 proposition, but we would go specifically to see Harryhausen's creations.

He was our master of a fantasy and sci-fi bestiary -- from "Mighty Joe Young" in 1949 to "Clash of the Titans" in 1981, and between -- "It Came from Beneath the Sea," "20 Million Miles to Earth," three Sinbad films, "Jason and the Argonauts," "One Million Years B.C.," "The Valley of Gwangi" . . . and more. Thanks Ray!