Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

The George Pal Lecture on Fantasy in Film Featuring Ray Harryhausen

By staff
posted Apr 8, 2004, 14:48

Veteran filmmaker and stop-motion magician Ray Harryhausen will discuss and present five newly restored prints of his classic fairy tales which he produced, directed and animated in the forties and fifties. With armatures crafted by his machinist father and clothes created and sewn by his mother, Harryhausen�s stop-motion puppets were brought to life frame-by-frame by his own hand. Mother Goose Stories (1946), The Story of Little Red Riding Hood (1949), Hansel and Gretel (1951), The Story of Rapunzel (1951) and The Story of King Midas (1953) will be presented in new 35mm prints, blown up from the best surviving materials of the 16mm originals by the Academy Film Archive. Additional footage of abandoned projects also will be screened.

A panel discussion with Mr. Harryhausen and those who helped him preserve the films will be hosted by Leonard Maltin.