I had an almost religious experience recently. I went to the Ray Harryhausen: Mythical Menagerie exhibit hosted by the Science Museum Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. Ray Harryhausen is a name that anyone that is even mildly interested in special effects in movies should know. He didn’t invent stop-motion animation, but he was probably the best at it and he improved the craft. His body of work is massive and includes Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, and 20 Million Miles to Earth just to name a few. The films that he worked on had a massive impact on me. I was too young to see any of his movies in the theater, but I vividly remember the first time I saw Jason sword fighting with a bunch of skeletons on TV.

Modern movies and storytelling owe a lot to this man’s work, and it was incredible for me to see in-person the actual models that were used in some of my favorite movies. You should go to the exhibit if you have the opportunity, but below are my photos from my trip to see these cinematic holy relics for myself.

via sciencemuseumok.org

“Ray Harryhausen – Mythical Menagerie” is a comprehensive exhibition of close to 150 of the original models, prototypes, bronzes, sketches and storyboards from stop-motion animation pioneer Ray Harryhausen’s “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad,” “Jason and the Argonauts,” “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad,” “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger” and “Clash of the Titans.”

The exhibition was developed in partnership with the Scotland-based Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation and is the first U.S. exhibition of Harryhausen’s work since his death in 2013.

The exhibition runs from July 29 to Dec. 3, 2017, and is included with general admission.

 

 

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Production Clash of the Titans Jason and the Argonauts Mythical Menagerie Ray Harryhausen Sinbad Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger Stop Motion Animation The 7th Voyage of Sinbad The Golden Voyage of Sinbad