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Harryhausen at the Angelika |
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Written by D Weitz
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Monday, 03 April 2006 |
Those of you who saw Ray Harryhausen at the Angelika Theater on Thursday night (March 30, 2006) know what a cool event it was. A VIP reception at 6 pm in the lounge area on the first floor gave some of you a chance to get your book signed, and/or to chat with Mr. Harryhausen and his wife, while sipping a frosty libation. VIP attendees also received a large signed poster featuring Ray Harryhausen in the middle with many of his fabulous creatures all around the edges. Presenting sponsors A Bunch of Short Guys and Janimation, and PR person extraordinaire
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, were there to rub elbows and make sure things were running smoothly. There were some gimmees provided by Janimation including my favorite, the army-green, rubber, vibrating grenade.
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Yours truly with Ray Harryhausen
Upstairs, additional sponsors included Lone Star Comics, Post Asylum, SoftImage, and Digital Tutors. Here was another chance to buy a book or a creature, although there were no Skeletons and the Kraken was noticeably absent.
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The main event of this SOLD OUT show started a little after 7 pm with a few introductions by A Bunch of Short Guys and Janimation. An approximately 24 minute compilation of Ray's movies and creatures was shown reminding us of our favorite creatures and bringing out some of the lesser known or possibly forgotten beasts of yesteryear. While the Harryhausen version of Food of the Gods was never made, the barnyard sketches of the giant chickens make you darned sad that it wasn't.
A surprise short film was then shown of a collaborative work by Ray Harryhausen and his long-time friend Arnold Kunert, who was also on hand to interview Ray after the film. The 5-6 minute short of Edgar Allen Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum was just finished in time for this tour and we were only the second audience to view it. So Mr. Harryhausen just can't help it. He must animate. At the young age of 86, he is still creating and touring and putting us lesser mortals to shame.
Arnold Kunert then conducted an interview with Mr. Harryhausen, fielding questions from the audience at the end. After the interview some door prizes were given away including boxed sets of Harryhausen films, SoftImage software, and tshirts and hats from A Bunch of Short Guys. I was the lucky winner of A Bunch of Short Guys ball cap.
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| Marshall and Matt |
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Another thirty minutes at the end of the night was alloted to give attendees another chance to get a book or poster signed. It was a fun night and it was great to see some of you there.
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| Happy campers - Dan, Andrea, Pat, Dave |
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Dave finally realized his poster was already signed (after standing in line)
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| Bao - always giving a helping hand - says Oh well! |
A stop for some after-show refreshments gave us a rare sighting of the almost extinct walrus women.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 March 2007 )
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