Ray Harryhausen revolutionized the industry with Dynamation, a technique with which it seemed that the actors interacted with the figures, animated using stop motion.
Harryhausen had already created brilliant and enduringly entertaining special effects for features like:
- The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
- It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955)
- 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and
- Mysterious Island (1961),
but he reached a new level with Jason and the Argonauts.
The great stop-motion battle scenes in Jason and the Argonauts:
- The flying harpies
- The multi-headed Hydra that guards the Fleece
- Talos, the enormous, sword-wielding bronze statue that springs to life to pursue the men
- And, of course, the iconic army of seven skeletons
