Getting Moving - Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance - page 201

An excuse to see Talos again (Richard Haynes).
illusion of scale. Even if the character did a quick movement, at that scale it still has a lot of
imagined space to travel through. The editing does not race along, giving us only snapshots.
More often than not Talos is there in all his full-scale glory.
I would suggest one reason for this sequence being a favourite scene for so many (me
especially) is that unlike the majority of characters in these i lms which are 'alive' in the context
of the i lm, Talos is actually brought to life, echoing the whole process of animation itself.
Harryhausen gives the character a deliberately awkward gait, as if this was a creature that
had never walked before. Talos does not spring into action, but slowly shifts his weight from
foot to foot, eyeing up the situation. He walks with a speed appropriate to his huge scale. You
never doubt for one second the sheer scale and heaviness of Talos. Harryhausen even puts
in little jerks suggesting the rusty mechanics of this heavy statue. Like Kong and the T-rex
standing facing each other for moments of stillness, he is thinking. The performance has many
beautiful details, such as the swapping of his sword from one hand to another … little details
that bring it to life. The late Paul Berry and I used to watch this scene and act out the swapping
of the sword. Like Kong snapping the T-rex's jaw, this is an iconic moment, a real
celebration of the joys of stop motion. Here is a fantastic character brought to
credible life by an animator, and glorifying in the medium. Talos is hardly a realistic
character, but we believe in this creation. Sound plays a huge part in giving him
life. The metal strains as he moves, with an echo that suggests its hollowness.
Harryhausen's sculpting perfectly captures the essence of Greek statues, rejoicing
in the male physique, while the texturing of the surface suggests years of standing