Wondefest 2024 Sneak Peak #6 – Celebrating Ray Harryhausen

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Childhood memories live with us forever. One of my enduring memories haunted me for years. I recall vividly a movie my parents were watching on TV, with a battle between a giant metal man and ancient warriors. And the giant metal man collapsing and shattering. Of course, a few years later I discovered this was Jason and the Argonauts and the master behind the magic was Ray Harryhausen.

I devoured Famous Monsters magazine, and their coverage of the new Harryhausen movie coming in the early 70’s, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. It played in my hometown as a weekend matinee, and I had to see it both days. The One Eyed Centaur, the dancing Kali, and other fantastic creatures were amazing. And so was Caroline Munro, but that is another story.

I first met Ray in 1995 at a convention in Los Angeles. He had a few of his puppets with him. Ray was charming and friendly and happily signed my Film Fantasy Scrapbook. I would meet him a couple more times over the years including his return to Wonderfest in 2003. (Has it been 21 years?)

Vanessa Harryhausen and Connor Heaney from the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation at Wonderfest

This year I approached the Wonderfest team and suggested reaching out to the Harryhausen Foundation and bringing Ray’s daughter to the show. Wonderfest had a strong relationship with Ray with his previous visits to the show. Additonally, X-Plus has been producing all new model kits based on Harryhausen’s creations. They were open to the idea, and both Vanessa Harryhausen, and Connor Heaney from the Foundation will be attending and presenting. Their appearance is sponsored by CultTVman, along with Squadron, Aztek Dummy, Monarch Models, Jimmy Flintstone Studio, Pestilence Labs, and ParaGrafix.

Cyclops and Rhedosaurus models from X-Plus

We’ll have the X-Plus kits of the Cyclops from 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and the Rhedosaurus from Beast from 20,000 Fathoms available at the show, along with a few of the vinyl kits from Star Ace. The Rhedosaurus will make it’s debut at the show. We’ll only have a few kits on hand at this time.

Will you be joining us at Wonderfest? The event is June 1-2, 2024 at the Crown Plaza hotel in Louisville KY. This is the biggest and best event for spaceship and monster modelers. I haven’t missed a show in 26 years. I plan my year around Wonderfest! For more information about the show, please visit the Wonderfest website!