Ray Harryhausen Comes To The Academy This Summer, Opens 5/14

The legendary career of stop-motion and visual effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen will be showcased in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' new summer exhibition "The Fantastical Worlds of Ray Harryhausen," opening to the public on Friday, May 14, in the Academy's Fourth Floor Gallery in Beverly Hills. Admission is free.

For nearly three decades, Harryhausen launched moviegoers into the magical worlds of fantasy and adventure through action sequences, executed largely by himself, featuring by prehistoric beasts, aliens, giant sea creatures and mythological monsters.

With unprecedented access to the Harryhausen collection, the exhibition will feature original models, drawings, storyboards and behind-the-scenes photographs demonstrating the animation and visual effects processes that Harryhausen used to create many iconic films, including "It Came from beneath the Sea" (1955), "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" (1956), "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" (1958), "Jason and the Argonauts" (1963), "The 3 Worlds of Gulliver" (1960), "One Million Years B.C." (1966) and "Clash of the Titans" (1981).

In 1991 the Academy awarded Harryhausen its Gordon E. Sawyer Award (an Oscar® statuette) for his technological contributions to the industry, which included Dynamation, an original technique that allowed armatured models to be integrated into live-action footage.

Also opening on May 14 in the Academy's Grand Lobby Gallery will be "Chuck Jones: An Animator's Life From A to Z-Z-Z-Z." The exhibition will feature Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew, Wile E. Coyote and many other iconic characters created or developed by Oscar-winning animator and humorist Chuck Jones (1912 - 2002). More than 150 drawings, storyboards, cels and dialogue sheets will be on display.

"The Fantastical Worlds of Ray Harryhausen" and "Chuck Jones: An Animator's Life From A to Z-Z-Z-Z" will continue through Sunday, August 22.

The Academy's galleries are located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and are open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends, noon to 6 p.m. The galleries will be closed for the Memorial Day (May 29 and 30) and Independence Day (July 3 and 4) holiday weekends.

For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.