While his method for creating special effects has largely passed into the history books the ability of his work to create wide-eyed attention has not. His obsessive dedication to his craft changed movies for the better and enriched my life, and the lives of countless others, in a way only the work of a true artist can.
Some tributes:
Robert Rodriguez: “Ray is the reason I became a filmmaker. He inspired me with his hands on, do it yourself filmmaking. Filled with imagination and painstaking craftsmanship. A treasure.”
Guillermo del Toro: "He was a true pioneer, a man who took the mantle of stop-motion and elevated it to an art form. Like all great monster makers, he worked almost single-handed. He was designer, technician, sculptor, painter and cinematographer all at once. To my generation, and to every generation of monster lovers to come, he will stand above all. Forever."
J.J. Abrams: “He was, obviously, a genius, infinitely ahead of his time. He inspired us all with his skill and imagination, and will be missed.”
George Lucas: “Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no STAR WARS”
James Cameron: “I think all of us who are practitioners in the arts of science fiction and fantasy movies now all feel that we’re standing on the shoulders of a giant. If not for Ray’s contribution to the collective dreamscape, we wouldn’t be who we are.”
Ray Harryhausen was 92.
