Movies - TV
Steven Spielberg Wanted To Make Jurassic Park As Homage To An Old Hollywood Legend
By JENNA BUSCH
With “Jurassic Park,” director Steven Spielberg paid homage to Ray Harryhausen, a legendary animator, special effects creator, and stop-motion animation innovator.
Harryhausen designed the creatures in “Jason and the Argonauts,” “One Million Years B.C.,” and “Clash of the Titans” and inspired Spielberg to make a movie about a critter.
Speaking with the Directors Guild of America, Spielberg acknowledged, “I'd wanted to make a dinosaur picture all my life because I was a huge fan of Ray Harryhausen.”
Spielberg added, “A digital dinosaur, a main character, had never been done before [...] The entire success or failure of the story was dependent on these digital characters.”
“[Harryhausen] breathed life into clay figures and wire armatures and made us, as kids, happily fear for our lives. [...] He inspired generations,” Spielberg explained to Time.
Spielberg regaled Ain't It Cool with a story about the day he showed a digital dino shot from “Jurassic Park” to Harryhausen. He said, “Ray and I watched the Gallimimus [scene].”
“I just got to watch [his] face watching the natural evolution from his art to the new era of digital characters,” said Spielberg. “[It’s] one of the greatest moments of my life.”