2. Troglodyte (Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger, 1977)
What made Harryhausen so unique was his outstanding ability to not only craft these walking, squawking monsters but to imbue them with almost human features and facial expressions. For example, take the troglodyte from the final part of the trilogy. As he's identified as an early ancestor of the human race, you can see the confusion in his face. His eyes widen, his mouth drops- he even steps back as though in disbelief. Sinbad and his crew are stunned- and, given the almighty spectacle before us, so we are. Likewise, look at the baboon playing chess with Queen Zenobia (it makes sense if you've seen the film- but only just). You'll swear it's real. Such attention to detail had always been part of the animator's charm, and yet this film marked a critical turning point. Despite the fact that the models had taken two years to build and shoot, some people thought these new creations were derivative; saying that the three ghouls summoned to charge at Sinbad were too similar in style to the skeleton warriors). Harryhausen admitted that the film was rushed (which might explain an uncharacteristic shakiness in the sabre-toothed tiger of the title) but there is still so much to take from it. The troglodyte, later cannibalized to create the character of Calibos for Clash of the Titans, spoke only a whisper of the wonders yet to come. Oh, and please; no Rocky jokes.