Enjoy Stuff: Stop Motion Devotion

Enjoy Stuff: A TechnoRetro Podcast

Ray Harryhausen was the master of stop-motion animation, creating some of the most iconic fantasy movies of all time and inspiring generations of creators. Jovial Jay and Shua film one frame at a time as they look back at the work of this legend on Enjoy Stuff!

It’s time to indulge in some retro movies! These classics were brought to life through the genius of Ray Harryhausen and his creative creature design and animation techniques.

News

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What we’re Enjoying

Jay has been impressed with the new Percy Jackson and the Olympians series on Disney+. It’s a great adaptation that is true to the first book and seems to be creatively exploring the characters. Shua is listening to Conan himself narrate his own book. Arnold Schwarzenegger shares some motivational life tips with his new book Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life. You may be surprised how useful some of his tips are.

Sci-Fi Saturdays

This week on Sci-Fi Saturdays Jay goes back (and forward) in time with the 2002 adaptation of the classic HG Wells story The Time Machine, starring Guy Pierce. Although some aspects are changed, it is a pretty good story with some surprisingly good themes. He has also been updating locations from Marvel TV and movies, including the Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter series. Play around with the interactive map on MCULocationScout.com. Plus, you can tune in to SHIELD: Case Files where Jay and Shua break down each episode of the Hawkeye series and more.

Enjoy Movies!

Don’t stop-motion believin’! In 1933 a 13 year old Ray Harryhausen saw the movie King Kong and it forever changed the way we would experience movies. It inspired him to experiment in techniques of stop motion animation that he would continually improve throughout his entire career.

His impressive resume includes classics like Mysterious Island, Jason and the Argonauts, and of course Clash of the Titans. Many of his movies aren’t even remembered for who starred in or directed them, but for Ray’s special effects. His patented Dynamation technique of incorporating his stop motion creatures enhanced all these movies in a way that made you feel like you were part of the dream.

Countless creators were inspired by Ray’s effects, such as Steven Spielberg, Terry Gilliam, Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, and of course the man who carried the mantle, visual effects legend Phil Tippett. Their movies continued to evolve Ray’s techniques including how CGI even works today. We are all indebted to Mr. Harryhausen and are grateful for his work.

Which of Ray Harryhausen’s works do you like? Have you ever made a stop motion movie? First person that emails me with the subject line, “Release the Kraken!” will get a special mention on the show. Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [e-mail]