Arnold Kunert

TheoFantastique: Arnold, thank you for taking some time to discuss this new version of the classic film. I’d like to ask a few questions about the background of the film itself, and then ask a few things related to this new 50th anniversary edition. With my previous background in reading about the life and work of Ray Harryhausen I was familiar with his involvement in a great number of areas, from initial concepts to pre-production artwork to the special effects themselves, but in watching this film and the background materials in the extra features I was surprised to learn that the story for this film came from Ray. Can you share a little about how this story came about and moved from story to film production?

Arnold Kunert: Ray’s original story dealt with a creature being brought back by a U.S. rocket from Venus and crash-landing in Lake Michigan, just outside downtown Chicago. As the funding for the film became available, Ray decided to change the location to Italy. He had never been outside the U.S. and decided this might be the best way to get to Europe.

TheoFantastique: This film has been a favorite of Harryhausen fans for decades since its release. The disc of special features in this anniversary edition includes commentary from folks like Rick Baker, John Landis, Tim Burton and other giants of Hollywood in fantasy films. So the film resonated with the well known members of its audience over the decades as well as among many more rank and file fans. It seems to stand out from other science fiction films from the same timeframe as well. Can you discuss some of the elements and features of this film that seem to make it memorable for fans?

Arnold Kunert: The most memorable aspect of the film is certainly the creature design. Of course, the European locations, most of them shot by a second unit before principal photography began, also add to the film’s appeal. Finally, Ray’s stop-motion animation is among the best of his career. Many visual effects artists consider the film one of their two or three favorite Harryhausen films for this reason.

TheoFantastique: I must admit that prior to watching the fiftieth anniversary edition of this film in its colorized version I was opposed to the colorization of classic black and white films, but color in this film is amazing and it has made me a convert to advocates of colorization. I know that in addition to this film Ray has also supervised the colorization of It Came From Beneath the Sea and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. Can you describe how Ray came to the decision to colorize these films and how Legend came to be involved in the work that resulted in these fine pieces of work?

Arnold Kunert: Four or five years ago, I was contacted by a lady friend in San Diego who knew I was acquainted with Ray Harryhausen. That friend worked for a company called Legend Films, the president of which, Barry Sandrew, was the original inventor of colorization 15 years ago. Legend wanted to colorize one of Ray’s films, but I was originally reluctant to get involved, knowing how Ray felt about colorization and what had been done to 1949’s Mighty Joe Young in the late 1980s. However, after I visited the Legend Films facility, my mind was changed and I convinced Ray to consider working with them. The rest is, as they say, history. Ray personally supervised all three of his black-and-white Columbia films, as well as two of Merian C. Cooper’s RKO films, She and The Most Dangerous Game. Needless to say, Ray is very pleased with the results. Ray always wanted to do his black-and-white films in color, but the budgets wouldn’t allow for color. Now they are in color, exactly where they should have been 50 years ago.

TheoFantastique: How did the colorization process work and what was Ray’s part in working with Legend?

Arnold Kunert: I cannot explain the process beyond saying that it’s simply a matter of determining what colors a scene should have and programming those choices into a computer. Ray was in complete control of all the colors in all of his films, and, working with color designer Rosemary Horvath, made all of the color choices.

TheoFantastique: For me one of the more interesting parts of the extras on the second disc in this set was your discussion of promotional ad artwork during the 1950s that promoted this and other films of Ray’s. How did you come to be a collector of this type of material, and can you share a little with how this material was used in the past to promote films in contrast with film promotion today?

Arnold Kunert: I was given the material by National Screen Service in Chicago during the original releases of the films in the 1950s. I simply enjoyed having mementos of certain films I loved, most of them being Harryhausen films. I don’t know how things have changed since that time. I assume the internet and computers are used more widely today.

TheoFantastique: Arnold, thank you once again for your time and for sharing these great thoughts about this film, made an even better cinematic experience through colorization. Thanks as well for all of your work with Ray through “Ray Harryhausen presents…”

TheoFantastique: Arnold, thanks again for agreeing to participate in this interview. Marc Lougee of “Ray Harrhausen Presents” The Pit and the Pendulum was kind enough to connect us and it’s my privilege to have this time to share your work and association with Ray Harryhausen with fans. To begin, can you share some summary thoughts of some of the work you’ve done as a producer, film historian, and as an agent?

Arnold Kunert: Most of my work as a producer and film historian has been in the area of documentaries. I have written, produced and directed documentaries about a variety of subjects and individuals, but my most honored and best-known works have dealt with film director Budd Boetticher and voice artist Daws Butler, who was responsible for creating most of the famous Hanna-Barbera characters, among which were Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss, and many others. Ray Harryhausen asked me to be his agent several years ago because he trusted my judgment and knew how much I cared for him. I represent no one else. Frankly, representing Ray Harryhausen is just fine with me.

TheoFantastique: One of the features of this blog is an interaction with the fantastic in popular culture which we explore on both popular and academic levels. I noted in my research for this interview that you wrote an article for The Journal of Popular Culture in 1973 titled “Ray Bradbury: On Hitchcock and Other Magic of the Screen.” Have you had the chance to do any other writing on topics like this?

Arnold Kunert: In the mid-1970s, I wrote for a magazine in La Jolla, California, and was given free rein on my subjects. Among my first, and most enjoyable pieces, was a profile of Steven Spielberg which appeared in print less than two weeks before the opening of Jaws nationwide. I delivered a copy of the article to Steven at Universal Studios and wished him well on his career. No one outside the industry really knew his name at that time, so I am proud that I was among the first to recognize his talent. His TV-movie, Duel, based on a Richard Matheson short story, convinced me that he was someone worth watching. Obviously, I was right. I planned to publish other articles about film heroes of mine like Samuel Fuller and Jack Arnold, but the magazine folded before I had the opportunity. Nevertheless, the dozen or so articles I was able to see published made the venture worthwhile. I was teaching high school and college English classes at the same time, but the writing and interviewing gave me an opportunity to “stretch” my writing skills a bit and get a little extra cash in the bank at the same time.

TheoFantastique: Like so many people, I grew up as an avid fantasy film fan, and Ray Harryhausen was a strong influence on my own desires to be a stop-motion animator which was unfortunately never realized. I recall his long association with producer Charles Schneer, but some fans may be less familiar with his association with you in recent years. How did you and Ray come to know each other and develop this professional association?

Arnold Kunert: I was introduced to Ray Harryhausen by Ray Bradbury, whom I have known since 1970. Bradbury, a friend of Harryhausen’s since the late 1930s, knew of my admiration for Harryhausen, so he arranged for us to meet during one of Harryhausen’s occasional visits to the U.S. in the late 1970s, around the time of the release of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. We became friends and maintained a long-range relationship via letters and phone calls from then on. In 1992, I successfully campaigned to get Ray Harryhausen a Lifetime Achievement Oscar and in 2003 I arranged for him to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, across the street from Graumann’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, where a 13-year-old Harryhausen had first seen King Kong in 1933. Ray has told me on more than one occasion that he considers me someone who “gets things done.” That may be true, but I have put a special amount of energy into seeing that my hero from the 1950s, whose little black-and-white films were so thrilling to see in Chicago theaters, is properly honored.

TheoFantastique: What types of things have struck you about Ray’s vision and imagination over the years?

Arnold Kunert: Ray has always impressed me as the type of artist who never worried whether someone didn’t particularly like the direction he was taking in his career. I suppose that’s a hallmark of all great artists, but Harryhausen is absolutely unique in that regard because his influence on the film industry has been so widespread for so many years that he stands alone and above all other technicians who have ever labored in the industry. He has certainly been frustrated by small budgets and time restrictions on his films, but the overall list of credits from the late 1940s to the early 1980s is astonishing by any standard. He is virtually the only artist in Hollywood who has had an influence on more than two generations of filmmakers. No one else can make that claim. Just look at the Oscar nominees and winners for visual effects since the late 1970s. The vast majority of them acknowledge Ray as their inspiration.

TheoFantastique: Can you touch a little more on Ray’s continuing and far-reaching influence?

Arnold Kunert: Ray’s films are just as relevant and enjoyable today as when they were first released. Audiences still respond to heroes and legends. Were that not the case, Spielberg wouldn’t be shooting a fourth Indiana Jones adventure, the Pirates of the Caribbean films would not have been so successful and Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy would never have been funded. Spielberg, Johnny Depp, and Peter Jackson all point to Ray as an inspiration, so why wouldn’t Ray’s films be just as successful today? Whenever Ray is in town, three different generations of admirers, from small children to the children’s grandparents, anxiously tell Ray how much his films mean to them.

TheoFantastique: What types of projects has Ray been working on since retiring from hands-on special effects work?

Arnold Kunert: Most recently Ray has been supervising the colorization of his black-and-white films from the 1950s, all of which would have been shot in color had the budgets allowed for it. Color photography during that time period was twice as expensive as black-and-white, so he was forced to use black-and-white film stock until Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. Ray is involved with other film-related projects, but I am not at liberty to discuss them at this time. Watch for the latest news on his web site, www.rayharryhausen.com.

TheoFantastique: One of these projects is the “Ray Harryhausen presents” umbrella endorsement of certain noteworthy items. How did you come to share this idea with Ray?

Arnold Kunert: I felt that Ray’s name on a project might help that project gain some credibility which it might not ordinarily have gotten. I remembered that Steven Spielberg attached his name to a variety of films in the 1980s, as Steven Spielberg Presents, such as those directed by Robert Zemeckis, Joe Dante and Chris Columbus, and thought having Ray’s name used in the same way might give some very talented artists a chance to get the spotlight which might otherwise have eluded them.

TheoFantastique: The first of the projects under this umbrella was Marc Lougee’s fine stop-motion film The Pit and the Pendulum. Marc has given an interview on this topic recently, but how did you feel this project went as the first of those endorsed by Ray?

Arnold Kunert: Ray and I are very impressed with Marc Lougee’s Pit and the Pendulum. Ray and I have known Marc for many years, so we were not surprised that the short film turned out so well.

TheoFantastique: Arnold, thank you again for this interview, and for your partnership with Ray Harryhausen that has enabled him to continue producing many fine pieces of entertainment and art for new generations of fans.

Arnold Kunert: It’s been my pleasure. Thank you.