ALL SCI-FI Forum Index ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people”.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Starlog #14 — Jim Danforth - Stop Motion's Heir Apparent

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi magazines and fanzines
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 12:08 am    Post subject: Starlog #14 — Jim Danforth - Stop Motion's Heir Apparent Reply with quote

__________

Enjoy this fine Starlog article about stop motion master Jim Danforth.

Click on each page here to see a large, easy-to-read version you can zoom in on. Click on the large version again for the maximum size Very Happy












_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:12 pm; edited 4 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Robert (Butch) Day
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 1437
Location: Arlington, WA USA

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 2:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Glad you posted this. I missed it when the issue came out!
_________________
Common Sense ISN'T Common
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Thanks. I've got more articles ready to post.

I'm hoping our members will do what I'm doing, which is to read the articles and make a few notes about interesting things they discover while reading. Afterwards I use the notes to post a reply below the articles.

Now if you'll excuse me I have a King Kong article to read Very Happy.

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 1:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Around 1998 a friend of mine named Rod Bennett told me he'd had a few phone conversations with Jim Danforth for an article Rod was writing for his fanzine, Wonder. He said that Danforth was sort of an ornery fellow who had alienated himself from various filmmakers by being a bit stubborn.

To illustrate just how opinionated Danforth is, Rod told me Danforth actually disliked the CGI special effects in Jurassic Park! I'm not sure why Danforth had that strange attitude, but I can see a little of his stubbornness in the article above.

Although it's undeniable that Danforth's animation is remarkably smooth, nothing he's ever done shows the remark characterization in the creatures he animates the way Harrhausen's does.

Perhaps the best example of a animated creature showing a high degree of characterization is the funny T-Rex in Caveman 1980. Although Danforth designed the dinosaurs for Caveman (1981), the animation was performed by David Allen, Randy Cook and Pete Kleinow. And, true to Danforth's reputation, the IMDB trivia item below describes what happened with that production.
____________________________________

Jim Danforth, special effects designer of the stop-motion animated dinosaurs (the dinosaur and effects designer), apparently left the production of this movie about two-thirds of the way through because the Directors Guild of America allegedly disallowed his already contracted co-director credit alongside director Carl Gottlieb.

Therefore, Danforth is not credited as a director on this picture, only for special effects and second unit director.



]


On the other hand, I attended a lecture by Ray Harryhausen and Georgia State University just before Clash of the Titans came out, and afterwards I approached Ray and asked him what he thought of Cavemen (a much more entertaining film than Ray's rather dull One Million Years B.C., although I did NOT mention that to Ray).

Ray's curt reply was, "I don't like sendups."

So, he was well aware of the fact that Cavemen is a funny treatment of his movie, with it's all-caveman dialog that make no sense at all in Ray's version but actually works beautifully in Caveman!
Very Happy
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Krel.
Guest





PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember reading that Jim Danforth showed Ray Harryhausen the T-Rex figure, which was suppose to be an old, out of shape dinosaur. He was heartbroken when Harryhausen's reply on seeing the T-Rex was, "It looks pregnate".

At the time of Dave Allen's death in 1999, he was working on his dream project, "The Primevals". Since then Jim Danforth and Dave Allen's protege Chris Endicott have been trying to acquire the rights to the film from Charles Band, so they can finish their friends movie.

David.
Back to top
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
I remember reading that Jim Danforth showed Ray Harryhausen the T-Rex figure, which was suppose to be an old, out of shape dinosaur. He was heartbroken when Harryhausen's reply on seeing the T-Rex was, "It looks pregnate".

I'm sure Ray was just joking, but knowing what I do about Danforth, I'm not surprised that he took the comment the wrong way.

If Ray had praised it enthusiastically a little first and then chuckled as he said, "It looks pregnat," Danforth probably wouldn't have been offended.

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi magazines and fanzines All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group