Readers of a certain age could be mistaken for thinking that films featuring the work of Ray Harryhausen were on our TV screens every weekend when we were kids.

Think of the dinosaurs of One Million Years B.C., the gigantic creatures living on Mysterious Island, Sinbad’s various friends and foes, the mythical beasts of Clash of the Titans and, best of all, the trials of Jason and the Argonauts. For many, just the mention of these films conjures a host of unforgettable characters and unbelievable images that accompanied our childhoods and, for some, encouraged a love of cinema.

For those unfamiliar with the man, Harryhausen was a pioneer in the field of stop motion animation – that’s the kind where you make teeny tiny moves on models one frame at a time to create the illusion of movement. Just as Harryhausen was influenced by the likes of King Kong’s animator Willis O’Brien, he would go on to influence the work of Aardman Animation and Cosgrove Hall, bringing stop motion to new generations.

Harryhausen has been much celebrated, from wining an Oscar to being cited as an inspiration for people like Peter Jackson and James Cameron to become filmmakers themselves.

Now, thanks to the work of The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation and a new book by John Walsh called Harryhausen: The Lost Movies, a new (free) exhibition at Sale Waterside presents some of the work Harryhausen created for films that never made it to the screen, alongside models and images from well-known movies. 

Collating a life’s work

Connor Heaney is the collections manager for the foundation, an amiable chap with a deep and infectious admiration for the man and his work.

“This exhibition presents a unique insight into Ray Harryhausen’s lifetime of imagination and creativity,” he says. “Featuring artwork which spans his earliest experiments in the 1930s through to the unrealised Story of Odysseus in the late 1990s, this display will demonstrate the true extent of his genius. Fans of cinema will be fascinated to see alternate artwork for some of Ray Harryhausen’s most iconic creations, alongside previously unseen prototype models from the foundation’s archive.”

Combining artworks, photography, test film footage, movie posters and original models including, most thrillingly, one of the original skeletons from the iconic battle from Jason and the Argonauts, this exhibition is a wonderful journey through the work of a filmmaking and animation genius. For every reminder of a moment from a classic film, there’s a sense of what we have missed from the movies and TV shows that Harryhausen wanted to make but, ultimately, couldn’t bring to fruition. In particular, his version of War of the Worlds could have been one of the greatest science fiction films of its era if the test footage and illustrations (Harryhausen was a masterful illustrator) are anything to go by.

It also serves as a reminder that stop motion animation was, for a long time, considered to be a dying craft once CGI began to take off. But it’s still very much alive, and that’s thanks in no small measure to the charm, skill and expertise of Harryausen’s work. In many ways he was a magician, his sleight of hand projected onto screens and into the imaginations of children and adults across the world. This exhibition reminds us of what wonders such magic can bring. 

Words and photos by Robert Martin

 

The Lost Worlds of Ray Harryhausen: Creatures, Martians and Myths is at Sale Waterside until January 4, 2025. For more information, click here.