RIP Ray Harryhausen: His 10 Best Creature Designs

7. Cyclops (The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad, 1958)

The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad, 1958 For the film that brought Dynamation to brilliant, bustling life, there could not have been a more spectacular promise of the shape of things to come. Suddenly, Harryhausen was able to concoct a fantasy world like no other- this being the first film he shot entirely in colour. And so the 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a film teeming with monsters; the cavern-dwelling dragon, the wide-winged Roc and the creepy serpent woman whose flailing arms and whipping tail are paraded before a royal audience. And although it marks the first appearance of a Harryhausen staple, the sword-wielding skeleton warriors, it is another creature that really catches our eye. The Cyclops is a hybrid of Pan (hence the goat legs) and the original Ymir model, and poor Sinbad has to endure not one but two. The film's stand-out scene sees the Cyclops locked in battle with the dragon; easily the most elaborate- but exciting- result of the film's eleven-month- long animation process.
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Yorkshireman (hence the surname). Often spotted sacrificing sleep and sanity for the annual Leeds International Film Festival. For a sample of (fairly) recent film reviews, please visit whatsnottoblog.wordpress.com.