Stop-motion animation master Ray Harryhausen died Tuesday in London at 92. The Los Angeles-born special effects pioneer famous for his fighting skeletons and cowboy-fighting dinosaurs influenced generations of film-makers.
Harryhausen created complex and inspired monsters in his films including Mighty Joe Young, It Came from Beneath the Sea and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
His family said in a statement: "Harryhausen's genius was in being able to bring his models alive. Whether they were prehistoric dinosaurs or mythological creatures, in Ray's hands they were no longer puppets but became instead characters in their own right, just as important as the actors they played against and in most cases even more so."
Directors including George Lucas and Lord of the Rings' Peter Jackson credit Harryhausen with inspiring their work. Lucas once said there would be no Star Wars without Harryhausen, and Jackson said: "The Lord of the Rings is my Ray Harryhausen movie. Without his lifelong love of his wondrous images and storytelling it would never have been made – not by me at least."
An outpouring of tributes appeared on Twitter after the Harryhausen family announced Ray's passing. On Twitter, actor Simon Pegg and his frequent collaborator Edgar Wright offered their memories:
Ray Harryhausen an inspiration and a legend, even before he left us. His influence cannot be measured and has shaped cinema as we know it.
— Simon Pegg (@simonpegg) May 7, 2013
I loved every single frame of Ray Harryhausen's work. He was the man who made me believe in monsters. Glad to have met him. A true legend.
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) May 7, 2013
Film director and comic book writer Greg Pak sent out several tweets calling Harryhausen a "brilliant artist" and "a wonderful, warm human being".
His enthusiasm & artistry & sheer delight in sharing every aspect of his work was so infectious & inspiring. Godspeed, Ray Harryhausen.
— Greg Pak (@gregpak) May 7, 2013
Comedian Patton Oswalt, who has made a name for himself of late with moving tributes and extreme displays of nerdiness, said:
If I believed in God, I'd want him to be like Ray Harryhausen -- nudging us one frame at a time toward the sublime & fantastic.
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 7, 2013
Ray Bradbury, Tim Burton and many of Harryhausen's colleagues paid tribute to the artist at a 2010 Bafta celebration honoring his 90th birthday.
At the ceremony, actress Caroline Munro explained what it was like to work as an actor in one of his films: "You would see the magic and it was there and is still there, and will always be there."
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