May 09, 2004
Peter Jackson and Ray Harryhausen
After seeing Jason and the Argonauts last Thursday, Margaret and I were discussing the demise of Dynamation-style effects—that is, aside from the occasional homage to Jason's fighting skeletons, such as Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness, and the second Spy Kids movie (I only saw the preview, I swear).
We agreed, though, that Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Ents were quite Harryhausenesque. Was this intentional?
Today I googled up the following from a post-Fellowship intervew with Jackson:
I've had a lifelong passion to make a fantasy adventure film, because when I was younger I loved Ray Harryhausen's movies, as well as stuff like Jason and the Argonauts, and the original King Kong. I've always had a desire to make one of those fantasy adventure type films, and they don't do those movies much any more.
Peculiarly satisfying to think that Jackson, inspired by Harryhausen, has carried on the latter's visual style in the movies, and now is remaking King Kong—which was the movie that inspired Harryhausen to go into special effects.
I have a soft spot for the scenes in The Two Towers where the Ents destroy Isengard–really, they are right out of a playbook for Glen Canyon monkeywrenchers.
Posted by Emily at May 9, 2004 06:31 PM