A few weeks ago I attended the dedication of the Ray Harryhausen theater at Sony Pictures Digital, which holds the Sony Pictures Imageworks and Sony Pictures Animaton studios on its campus. The dedication itself took place on the large lawn outside the theater and was followed by a screening of Jason and the Argonauts, which had been digitally scanned and restored to make a Blu-Ray edition of the film.  It was a small and joyous event that felt almost like a family gathering. The event seemed to have turned everyone into a 12-year-old Harryhausen fan who couldn’t help smiling.

Jon Landis gave the dedication in place of Imagework’s Ken Ralston, who had come down with something on the flight back from London where he had attended Mr. Harryhausen’s 90^th birthday party. There was camera set up to record birthday wishes from Mr. Harryhausen. Luminaries Rob Cook and Sam Raimi, among others, attended. Raimi brought his kids, which I thought was awesome. I came to love science fiction, fantasy and horror movies sitting beside my grandfather in the great movie houses of old downtown San Diego. I always love to see people passing on their love of the fantastic to their children.