Ray Harryhausen’s contribution to special effects cannot be overstated, with virtually everybody in the field being inspired by his armies of mythical beasts in the Sinbad films, the dinosaurs of One Million Years BC, or the unforgettable and amazingly influential skeleton gladiators in Jason And The Argonauts (see even this year’s effects-fest Pirates Of The Caribbean for an example). Today, the Guardian newspaper in the UK announces a visit from the man himself to Bradford’s National Museum Of Photography, Film And Television, to take place tomorrow (Sunday 7th December), where he will talk about his life and career, accompanied by exclusive screenings of the classic King Kong (the film that switched Ray on to animated effects, and later producer Willis O’Brien mentored the young Harryhausen), the aforementioned Argonauts, as well as the first wide showing in the UK of the 50-years-in-the-making short The Story Of The Tortoise And The Hare!

Harryhausen is doing the promotional circuit to push his new autobiography An Animated Life, available now from Amazon.co.uk. A US edition of the book is available to pre-order for release next April. As far as we know, this is Harryhausen’s only UK appearance, but if anyone knows of a London showing, please let us know!