Earlier this week Ray Harryhausen passed away. There was a wealth of coverage all over the media, and as expected, the fan community expressed a lot of appreciation and a sense of loss with his passing. But this has got me wondering. In the past I interviewed Paul Davids who produced the documentary The Sci-Fi Boys. The film looked at the influence of Forrest J. Ackerman, Ray Bradbury, and Ray Harryhausen on generations of fans, many of whom went on to produce various fantasy, science fiction, and horror works of their own. With the death of Harryhausen the sci-fi boys are now gone. As a result I have some questions I’d like to share with readers, and I’d be interested in feedback and discussion:
Who and what are the primary influences of the imagination for current fans?
With the shift from the work of larger-than-life creative individuals in genre to faceless teams of people in a production crew, which individuals stand out with the potential to inspire us today?
Given current audience preferences in literature, film and television, is it less likely that we will see future titans of the imagination?
Will there ever be others that inspire us to the extent that Ackerman, Bradbury and Harryhausen did?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’m pessimistic, but hoping others will rise to fill their very big shoes.
I think people like Joss Whedon, James Cameron, Peter Jackson and Giullermo del Toro certainly have visions that will influence the next generation. And in an increasingly pluralistic society, team entities like Pixar, Dreamscape and ILM will influence people as well. But it will necessarily be a diluted effect on both accounts, as there are so many more people producing works of a fantastic nature today than there were in the days of Harryhausen and Bradbury.
On the other hand, regarding Mr. Moore’s comment, I think there were a lot of people in Bradbury’s day also producing great works of fantasy–Fritz Leiber, Theodore Sturgeon, Shirley Jackson, etc., even though for various reasons Bradbury tends to stand out.