Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Bill Benzon has been writing some particularly fine pieces for The Valve, and he just posted a lengthy and heady article called The Rings of Fantasia. When Bill notified me about the piece, I asked if he minded my reposting on my site, and we agreed to go ahead with that. However, after doing all the work of setting it up, I’ve decided it’d be wrong to do so. It’s better just to link to it so that The Valve, the original site that Bill regularly writes for, will get as much attention as it deserves for showcasing such a writer as Bill.

I suggest you check it out and read some of the many other pieces Bill’s written. He’s a great supporter of Nina Paley’s work, currently highlighting the web comic strip she’s doing, Mimi and Eunice. (It’s good to see Nina creating again after the long promotional wind-down of Sita Sings the Blues. By the way, Bill Benzon wrote a wonderful and positive piece for The Valve about that film, as well.)

So in the end, let me encourage you to go and read. There’s some great stuff by Bill Benzon at The Valve.

- Clash of the Titans opened yesterday to mediocre and negative reviews. Watching trailers for this film made me sad to see the work of Ray Harryhausen tramped on by the cg generation. There’s no possibility a computer driven model could carry the same weight that the magnificent creatures of Harryhausen brought to the orginal. His films were always annoying in that they had a bevy of bad acting and live-action direction all in the service of the brilliant effects. Harryhausen’s creatures were the real stars of his films whether Jason and the Argonauts, either of his two Sinbad movies or Clash of the Titans. Even watching the clips of the cg effects brought me down. Something about the original’s stop-motion jerkiness added a weight, a reality to the form. The computer effects have become so generic that to go from this film to even the Mummy movies becomes almost interchangeably tedious. There’s basically no difference and no reason to see the film.

Instead I did see a running of the original and several other Harryhausen films on TCM recently. The mix of greatness and the B-movie live-action was almost delightful. These films have become iconic, and they’re irreplaceable.

To honor Harryhausen, I want to post some production stills. I don’t have pictures from his Clash of the Titans, but I do have plenty on The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, the film just prior to that. So here are some of those images.

1
(Click any image to enlarge.)

2
The original drawing of Sinbad and his men
fighting the golden Kali.

3
The golden Kali comes to life.

4
Very complicated staging of the sword fight had to be done
to keep the scene looking authentic.

5

6
An early Harryhausen preproduction drawing of Kali dancing.

7
The magician beckons Kali to descend the stairs.

8
John Stoll designed and supervised the many sets for the film.
Fernando Gonzalez was the Art Director.

9
An early Harryhausen preproduction drawing of the Homonuclus.

10
Kaura and Achmed look on in wonder as
the Homonuclus comes to life.

11
The Homonuclus first tries out its movement.

12
Designs for the Golden Mask worn by the Vizier whose face
has been disfigured by Koura the Magician.

13

14
Beach scenes of Majorca substituted for
the Ancient continent of Lamuria.

15
The construction in the beach wall and the ship were added later.

16
Haryhausen (R) and cinematographer, Ted Moore (L), on the set.

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