Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

Wow, this brought back some memories - although its the first time I've seen the film as a whole. Jason and the Argonauts is a fine example of model stop frame animation techniques with none other than Ray Harryhausen, featuring some magnificent creatures of Greek mythology.



The story is a classic tale of adventure, as we follow Jason and his companions in their quest to obtain the gift of the Gods that is the Golden Fleece. Its nothing particularly special, but the lore of Greek mythology is always intriguing enough with almighty Gods, raging titans and other beastly creatures.



As Jason undergoes several trials and tribulations, Harryhausen brings alive several Greek mythological creatures through the art of stop motion animation. Bearing similarities to the techniques of Willis O'Brien's King Kong (1933) and Ladislaw Starewicz's The Mascot (1933), the techniques in animation have certainly improved with Harryhausen's effort in Jason and the Argonauts. With cleaner, much more complex movements and a greater variety of shots - scenes such as the several headed beast and the final skeleton duel were a real treat.






The use of scale is certainly something to behold, achieving great towering titans that dwarf mountains for a definite epic quality. It further demonstrates the technical and cinematic achievement in the film, creating some iconic moments that we all implicitly remember - particularly with the titan of Talos.




In closing, Jason and the Argonauts will remain host to some of the finest examples in model stop motion animation in film. The achievement is undeniable which no doubt inspired many feature films of cinema and animation to come.

Ray Harryhausen

With some more research around my source material, I found out that the first use of stop motion animation in a feature film was actually the very first adaptation of The Lost World itself, made in 1925. Intrigued, I later found a pioneer of this technique to be Ray Harryhausen who is renown for his brand of stop-motion model animations. His book 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen' showcases a collection of his concept art used for a range of environments and creatures in several films before CG animation was introduced.

His works are greatly inspiring capturing some iconic scenes that are particularly effective in creating a sense of depth and space, with a layering of background to foreground elements. Most of these are charcoal and pencil sketches used in production.





While this project is focused on environments, I believe including some creatures, if only just a suggestion, could really help provide a further sense of scale and atmosphere to the piece - so something I intend to keep in mind.

I also found a video of all the creatures Harryhausen designed, modelled and animated, some really fantastic stuff given the limitations of technology.


Check out his website here.

You can also find his book, 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen' at the UCA library.