Starting with his very first job in the industry, working as an assistant to special effects pioneer Willis O’Brien (King Kong) on the Academy Award®-winning special effects for Mighty Joe Young, Ray Harryhausen’s contribution to the fantasy cinema genre has always been outstanding. Via his “Dynamation” process, he has memorably brought to life some of the most enduring screen creatures of all time. From the spectacular living skeletons of Jason and the Argonauts to the incredible Medusa from Clash of the Titans, Harryhausen’s magic has delighted and thrilled people all over the world for decades.

From “Harryhausen’s Restaurant” in Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. to the Harryhausen grand piano in Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride, tributes to this living legend are rightfully everywhere. Only this year, stills from The Beast from 20 000 Fathoms (his first feature length film), appeared in the J J Abrahams-produced Cloverfield. Indeed, Harryhausen has often been cited as a major influence by many of contemporary fantasy cinema’s greatest exponents, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro (who refers to Hellboy as “his Harryhausen movie”). Even now, Harryhausen continues to work overtime, delving into his incredible imagination once again, to develop a series of graphic novels under the Ray Harryhausen Presents banner (Wrath of the Titans, 20 Million Miles More and Sinbad, Rogue of Mars, all of which continue the adventures of some of his finest characters), and overseeing the colourisation of several of his early classics including It Came from Beneath the Sea, Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers, and 20 Million Miles to Earth.

This is a unique opportunity to hear Harryhausen discussing his life and work with Tony Dalton, the co-author of his books (An Animated Life, The Art of Ray Harryhausen and the forthcoming A Century of Model Animation: From Méliès to Aardman). This event will be augmented by a screening of the film many consider to be his masterpiece, the mighty Jason and the Argonauts.