Harryhausen returns—in color
COMIC-CON: Interview with the special effects legend
By Laurence Lerman -- Video Business, 7/26/2007
JULY 26 | COMIC-CON: On the occasion of the release of a 50th Anniversary DVD Edition of the 1957 sci-fi flick 20 Million Miles to Earth, VB spoke to special effects legend Ray Harryhausen, the movie magician behind the rendering of the film’s remarkable stop-motion monster, the Ymir, who crashes down on Earth from Venus and wreaks some serious havoc in The Eternal City, Rome. In addition to the black and white original, 20 Million Miles also will be available in a newly colorized version supervised by Harryhausen himself.
Harryhausen
VB: We spoke a few years back about your early black & white films, and I remember you saying specifically that 20 Million Miles to Earth was the one you wish you could have made in color.
HARRYHAUSEN: Very much so, but our budget wouldn’t allow for that. The studios were so strict on low-budget science-fiction films, which weren’t all that popular at that time.
The sci-fi classic has been colorized for its 50th anniversary.
VB: And you supervised the colorization process on the film?
HARRYHAUSEN: Yes. Last year we colorized the Merian Cooper production of She (1935) and it was beautiful. Now Sony is moving on to 20 Million Miles to Earth, and the tests I’ve seen look fantastic.
VB: What scenes in this newly colorized version stand out in particular?
HARRYHAUSEN: Well, the colorizing improves the whole film. It’s hard to pick one particular scene, but I will tell you that Rome and the Colliseum have never looked more beautiful!
VB: And it looks like you’re also getting colorized—don’t you have a quick walk-on in the film as an elephant herder at the Rome Zoo where the Ymir is being held?
HARRYHAUSEN: Yes, that’s me, I’m told. We broke for lunch during the shooting of that scene, and the man who was supposed to be there didn’t come back. So I took off my sweater and ran in there and started feeding the elephant peanuts while the camera was running.
VB: Where does the Ymir rank in your pantheon of monsters? Is he one of your favorites?
HARRYHAUSEN: Oh yes. He went through a lot of changes from the original concept to what you see on the screen. I tried to make something that was very different but still believable. And I was the one who originally brought the 20,000 Miles to Earth story in to the producers, but I gave all the credit to [writer] Charlott Knight. I was very modest in those days.
VB: On the new DVD, there’s a supplemental piece where you have a sit-down with filmmaker Tim Burton, who has often said that he’s a big fan of your work.
HARRYHAUSEN: Yes, yes. We visited his studio back when he was producing his stop-motion movie The Nightmare Before Christmas.
VB: Are there plans to colorize any of your other films from that era? The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, perhaps, or It Came From Beneath the Sea?
HARRYHAUSEN: Earth vs. the Flying Saucer is up next. We ’re going to colorize it and restore it. We’ve done tests on 20,000 Fathoms, and that may come later. And we’ll eventually get to It Came From Beneath the Sea as well.
