War Of The Worlds Explained: Unmade Harryhausen Film

[@pupbenny]

Part 2 of this video, about the Zeppelin scene, is here by the way: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWmadJ2Nqt6AqsU

[@m.g.zilla2022]

As a fan of Ray Harryhausen and the war of the worlds, I think it's a shame that this movie wasn't made, but it's cool to see it being talked about. I was honestly never expecting someone to make a video based on this version in particular.

[@pupbenny]

It's a really interesting subject with a surprising amount to talk about with it, in fact I'll have another video about it out within a week. So, just like busses, you wait for one and two come along at once lol.

[@slaapliedje]

I also would have killed for a good or great version of the book on film. So far, all of the versions of the movies (and series) have tried to put forth something in modern times... the book was also done in Wells' time, but I still prefer that version of the story. Also, Spielberg's version was a travesty and I stopped watching anything involving him and Tom Cruise because of it.

[@Redfern42]

When I first saw the conceptual charcoal drawings depicting the tripods years ago, I had to smile. The saucers Harryhausen designed for "Earth vs the Flying Saucers had distinctive radial slots, grooves that also appeared in his Martian tripod drawings. Obviously, there are differences, but one can see a clear "lineage" between the two. One can bolt legs upon his saucers and the result would be "in the ballpark" for his WotW adaptation.

[@pupbenny]

In my next video coming out in a few days, I make that connection too, I found it so fascinating how similar the designs were, there's so many parallels haha. It's almost as if he did Earth vs the Flying Saucers in substitute for not being able to do his WotW.

[@toweypat]

There is also a clear lineage between his Martian and the kraken he designed for "Clash of the Titans", don't you think?

[@pupbenny]

Ray Harryhausen's War Of The Worlds would've been a fantastic film to see that surely would've been utterly iconic if it has been made, I suspect. He clearly regarded the book extremely highly and it's unfortunate that such a project that had so much work put into it never got made.

[@pupbenny]

That being said, George Pal's version is still an utterly iconic masterpiece too and we're extremely fortunate to have that. I'm just saying, it's a shame we couldn't have experienced both. :')

[@RadioSnakeInvasion6333]

I wish this film was made tbh, I loved the tripod designs and I remember trying to recreate the tripods designs as models when I was much younger

[@pupbenny]

I split this video into two, with the second coming within a week and focusing on the Zeppelin scene and the Tripods themselves. :)

[@Redfern42]

Ooh! I eagerly look forward to that one!

[@jamesmaythearsonist]

There was a zeppelin scene?

[@zombywoof1072]

There's only one R in the word drawing. Why the dialect comedy?

[@FarseerAnimation]

My favorite novel, a classic film, an animation technique that is a marvel to behold, and lore from one of the best lore tellers on KZbin. We already know that this video will be a lovely October treat indeed.

[@pupbenny]

Ha, thank you very much! :D

[@juanisol8275]

Long live Ray Harryhausen, legacy of Willis O'Brien and Stop Motion Arts!!! Fantastic review literally out of this world! Great Frame Cleaning worthy of a Movie! From one way to another, Ray managed to formulate that speculative realism of H.G. Wells himself, perhaps not in the way he wanted but he really sought to be as faithful as possible and left an iconic Martian reinterpretation! Question: Other reinterpretive explorations of Mars in the future? For example: Barsoom, Tyrr, Mars Attack, Evolution on Mars, Ect. 📽️👽🛸🌌

[@pupbenny]

I think it's truly fantastic that even the great work of this unmade film lives on and is still remembered! It's truly a sign of how great the legacy of these artists are! Thank you Juan! :) I've been intending to rewatch Mars Attacks for the past couple of months so I might actually end up doing a video on it lol, and expanding into other interpretations too, not sure yet! :D

[@juanisol8275]

@@pupbenny Awesome!! And gladly your Welcome for this Reviews out of this world! No hurry! After all, they're just some friendly suggestions! Simply referring to the expansive cultural explosion of Mars and much more intense with the radicalization of Hg Wells! It is incredible how our cosmological visualization of the red planet evolved! From the wasteland valley of the god of war to a new frontier of scientific discoveries about life on other worlds!!

[@toweypat]

Whoa, Harryhausen drew those drawings? He was a fantastic artist!

[@turkeytrac1]

Harryhausen's was also the name of the restaurant in Monsters INC. Mike took his gitlfriend there, and it was as homage to all he'd done in the movies.

[@ariesdemiurge]

I mean another thing to note on stop-motion is that sometimes the level of jitter can vary drastically within films (see: walkers in OG Star Wars and the Jurassic Park test footage). Hell, even in the clip of the Martian emerging, the boi was honestly pretty damn smooth.

[@prodigy-hu6dy]

This is my favorite story of all time and I remember this project from a very young age, it’s amazing seeing the old illustrations I loved as a kid be dissected and have the history of them explored. Plus I didn’t know many others knew about the Ray Harryhausen adaptation, needless to say, you earned a subscription.

[@pupbenny]

Thank you very much! :)

[@RichardDCook]

Wells' description of the Martians is fairly vague, however the impression I got from the book, a "greyish rounded bulk" and "groups of tentacles" and "face" of sorts dominated by two enormous staring eyes made me imagine a face at the front of a huge round sacklike body with two groups of tentacles, one on each side, functioning like the thing's hands and legs. Wells isn't clear whether the head and body are one in the same, but to me the depictions at 12:05 are closer to the book.

[@hydecorner97]

I still own this movie on VHS where the cover is all green, and apparently we've never unwrapped it from when my parents first bought it lol Still seen this movie a lot one of my favorite adaptations. But I had no idea he wanted to do more for this movie, like adding more scenes and Martian scenes, thats really interesting~

[@seanstark4312]

I would love to see you make more videos on Harryhausen's work, this was very interesting to watch.

[@dalek14mc]

10:32 I’ve known about these storyboards for years and I’m just now noticing the pick axe! lol

[@alanhilton7336caradventure]

I remember Harry's work in Jason and the Argonauts it's old but still brilliant.

[@Voodoomaria]

03:38 Notice how the sketch of the martian at this point bears a striking resemblance to Harryhausen's Kraken from 1981's Clash of the Titans? [See image at 11:17 for comparison.

[@nairbvel]

By the way, I own a DVD copy of Pal's "War of the Worlds" (still one of my fave movies) and it came in a slipcase with "When Worlds Collide" -- and it doesn't take long to find scenes filmed for one used wholesale (with different voiceovers) in the other, LOL.

[@clockdva20]

Has a life long HG Wells fan War of the Worlds was the first book I read by this great visionary writer. My Mother gave the book to read as a child .I also remember the class 1950's version and I can not stand the Tom Cruise version with it story changes . For me this is still a book that needs a real true to the original period version to be made. I know the BBC did a version a few years back. I have read several versions of the Book including the 100 Birthday edition for HG Well which included the original form and all the sections removed during editing. Having even spent hours trying to figure out how a tripod would walk with only three legs. One intresting fact that I can not prove the exsistance of is that my Grandad who was a projectionist in the 20 and 30's told my there was a silent film adaptation of War of the Worlds that they show at the Cinama's he worked in. I have never been able to find any infomation on such a version .maybe it was lost like many films from the inter war years . Or maybe he mistaked it for another old silent Si Fi film. Regardless it would have been nice to find such a version . But yes it was sad the the master of stop motion never made a full feature version of the Book. As you correctly said the test footage is from the arrival of the creatures from Mars were the cyclinder slowly unscrews before falling into the Pit closely follow by three others I seem to remember and then comes the deadly Heatray for its first actions of the invasion. The Story was really about the fear of Britain been invaded from Europe this was written after the creation of the unified Germany und the Prussians in the late 19th century and with their advances in science and education and heavy industrialation. Just in the same way that Hollywood Si Fi films in the 50's and 60's were about the cold war of the fear Russia and Communisn. HG Well had a lot of forsight that he used to address is hopes and fears for the future of the Human race and the planet future. Thanks for this upload.

[@rickytoddbotelho9555]

Excellent job you got my sub... I thought the video was clickbait because I had heard of Ray's attempt at the property but forgot. Remember pictures from an old book on Ray 😂❤

[@pupbenny]

Thank you! And yeah it sounds like something too good to be real, I was surprised when I found out about it years ago. xD

[@jamescandlish7097]

Fantastic video as always Pupbenny!

[@pupbenny]

Thank you very much! :)

[@Terry.W]

What a genius Ray Harryhausen was a genius...considering the primitive equipment he had to use ..It's basically the same thing Aardman animation do now but with state of the art computers..

[@pupbenny]

Yeah it's really quite astonishing how much hard work he put into his animations. I think it takes a mindset that's on another level to do it with that commitment and skill.

[@hagerty1952]

Harryhausen did eventually use this creature design (or at least the head) for the "Ymir" of "20 Million Miles to Earth" (which is actually what you're showing at 11:15)

[@nairbvel]

I know I'm a bit of a classic SF nerd, but I would really love to see an *accurate* film version of the book. Every time I get my hopes up, someone decides, "Nah, let's switch this around... and add this plot here... and change that character there..." (I'm looking at you, BBC.)

[@pupbenny]

I've been intending to watch the Pendragon Pictures version (or thinking about it anyway) which is apparently the only one that's fully accurate, but is incredibly poorly made and extremely hard to get through so I've heard. I always thought 'oh it can't be that bad' but I recently saw a clip of it on KZbin and then I understood why people say it's bad. Would be fantastic if a decently done accurate version was made though.

[@prodigy-hu6dy]

⁠@@pupbennyI actually watched it a bunch of times,and from memory the biggest difference is it kinda downplays the Red Weed and the tripods are more like a praying mantis. Its three hours so that should tell you it does follow it. If you can brave the visual effects it’s a very close adaptation.

[@billballbuster7186]

Wow, I would really have liked to see the Harryhausen version of Wars of the Worlds, his Martian is by far the most accurate rendition. The drawing were also most impressive for the proposed movie. I am a big fan of his movies which had me on the edge of my seat as a kid.

[@LightsCameraKonkle]

Love seeing the footage and even with the high frame rate

[@ladylycanvamp]

I'm so happy to see a video like this, I'm so sad this was never full made Edit: also in 17:45 I like to think Ray already made the tripod props and re-used them for the saucers because the underside has a similar design

[@ianbeale2527]

Have you checked out the Martin Bower Fighting and handling machine ? Martin was doing a "War of the Worlds " Photo Novel that never got off the ground due to that pesky Jeff Wayne releasing his album at the same time ! Martin, for those who don't know, is a Special Effects model maker and has worked on some of the best known films including Alien and Flash Gordon and Gerry Anderson shows TV shows such as Space 1999. He's also worked on Dr Who, Blake's 7 and even The Tripods. His WOTW's stuff is simply amazing as it looks like he's takes his inspiration directly from the descriptions in the novel.

[@pupbenny]

I hadn't heard of that, it sounds really interesting! Just looked it up quickly and from what I saw it looks really fantastic! And I bet there's quite an interesting story with it not getting made due to the Jeff Wayne version. It's funny (though a shame) how there's so many adaptations of WOTW that there's multiple that never got made due to conflicting with eachother. Thank you for letting me know about this one, I'll look into it! :)

[@Phantoms3Dzone]

Subtitles: George Pow Also, this is one of my favorite tripod designs!

[@PlanetZoidstar]

I think part of why the animated Martian scene is misstaken for one at the end of the story is the way the Martian seems to be unwell, the way it moves, rolls its eyes and falls out of the craft like it's collapsing from sickness. But given the description from the book it makes just a much (if not more sense) that it's a recreation of that introductory scene at the start of the story. The face of the Martian reminds me alot of other monsters Ray created in his movies, like the Kraken from Clash of the Titans or the alien Ymir from 20 Million Miles to Earth. Given Ymir is specifically an alien from Venus I think this was intentional.

[@Sharkheadgamingyt]

Loving Your Content, Keep Up The Work My Legend

[@pupbenny]

Thank you! :D

[@starry3459]

Huge W, was looking forwards to this one!

[@pupbenny]

Thanks! :D Sorry it took so long lol. I'll have another one about it out within a week (definitely this time, it's basically finished lol). There's so much to talk about with it haha, the designs are amazing!

[@OdeeOz]

10:31 You nailed it. I wish that the next Remake of War of the Worlds is built up from Harryhausen's sketches, and Tripod models. And yes, follow Wells' timeline of the Victorian Era too, and the film would be Epic! 👍👍🤴👑🤠

[@FightingMachine123]

12:56 bud is shocked

[@marcbrasse747]

Excellent video! Some remarks: 1 - The timeline and Pal connections actually fit well a pet theory of mine: What if Pal did get the idea from Harryhausen but decided to do it without stop motion because the huge amount of time and thus cost this would have led to. Furthermore Harryhausen had, if I am correct, not yet proven how far his technique could go and how good it would adapt to colour. 2 - Another link to Harryhausen's War Of The World project might be the rotating flying saucers in Earth vs The Flying Saucers. Harryhausen might very well have had the idea for War Of The Worlds first since such a rotation would help to stabilze the tripodsmwhich would have been a typical Harryhausen interpretation. 3 - Harryhausen was right about his martians being a bit too cartoony. The martian wipin goff his sweat is way to human. Furthermore Wells describes the martians as "having a bulk larger than that of a bear" (out of the top my head). Harryhausen's version indeed seems to be too semi-human and not cumbersome enough. But I am quite sure the master would have corrected that. In the mean time we are still waiting for the ultimate version. His could indeed have been the one. Until now the recent The Great Martian War mocumentary is number one as far as I am concerned, however much I like the Pal version.

[@patbarr1351]

This is a really interesting report on a film project I've never heard of! I'm sure this would have been a "cool movie," but I think Byron Haskin's 1953 version got it right with a more shadowy depiction of the Martians. Ray's style is so distinctive that it tends to call attention to itself. His stop-mo technique was perfect for "First Men In the Moon" because the Selenites were otherworldly and in their native environment. (When the Martians appear in Spielberg's film, it's one of the weaker moments because they are not very interesting to look at.)

[@Fideothedog2021]

I love how simple but effective the tripods look like. They look like a traditional UFO with legs and I find them very cool.

[@videogeekin]

The ability of an octopus to even have evolved without an internal skeleton is because it had to survive submerged underwater.

[@ShinGhidorah17]

It would have been amazing if this adaptation came out.

[@Soon_To_Be_Gone_Acc]

When the world needed him the most he came back with a scrapped version of a Martian Tripod.

[@BeefSteak899]

There’s actually a 2005 version of it

[@Soon_To_Be_Gone_Acc]

@@BeefSteak899 There is a 2005 scraped tripod?!

[@BeefSteak899]

@@Soon_To_Be_Gone_Acc yeah

[@bob23301]

One of my fave movies of all time.

[@waterbeauty85]

I've heard that George Pal absolutely wanted to avoid having the Martian war machines look disc shaped because flying saucers had become such a sci-fi cliche, but I also remember that original H.G, Wells book said that the war machine looked like a "pot lid" on top of three legs which kind of sticks you with a round saucer like shape if you're trying to be true to the novel.

[@MaconMedia]

I think the creatures in this version would work if they were in biomechanical suits. This would result in a Matryoshka doll situation, metaphorically useful for story development.

[@trainenthusiast5199]

kinda like the Harvesters of Independence Day

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Great video...👍

[@robwilton8001]

You might be interested in reading ‘The Space Machine’ by Christopher Priest, a prequel to both ‘War of the Worlds’ and the ‘Time Machine’.

[@themangledwither]

Hey I got a question since you're doing videos on the war of the worlds do you think you can do one on jeff Wayne's version?

[@pupbenny]

Yeah definitely! :) Eventually I'll get around to it I'm sure, not sure when but I'll probably end up doing at least a couple of videos on it, it's so iconic.

[@Sparky_131]

You should make episodes on the martians, because your good already with the tripods.

[@brianwelch-qq3ti]

Well, Timothy Hines also did it extremely accurately to the source material

[@Wotwhacchracterlol]

This is good! I thought those pictures were an book not an movie!

[@BarrettSlimmer]

Or Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds with music and Richard Burton's narration.

[@oliversmith9200]

I particularly like how broadly sourced Pupbenny is in this essay. For example, although I'd seen "F for Fake" years ago, I'd never made the connection between Harryhausen, Orson Wells, and "F for Fake". By the way, everyone do see "F for Fake" if you want an ironically tricky little intellectual romp about the perception of what is and isn't in the modern world with ~ Orson Wells... An artist so piercing in his exhibition of inconvenient ideas that during the McCarthy Red Scare Purges, America black balled and threw him out of the country.

[@delmaplain5358]

Despite all the advances in animation, I still think Harrihausen was one of the greatest animators.

[@user-db2fb1db1m]

Good Job - film 🎥 looks great We didn’t live long nor prosper either That’s all Folks Jokes and Mockery that few will comprehend the insult But , the film looks great Thank you for finding this gem and fixing up and posting It’s pretty close to the book

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

I would really have loved to have seen this movie

[@philarmstrong3765]

It seems Kodos and Kang were created by Harryhausen decades ago.

[@dragonzilla6482]

I saw the Martian at the Ray Harryhausen : Titan of Cinema Exhibition.

[@pupbenny]

Oh really!? :D I originally mentioned that exhibit at the end of the video but I cut that bit out, it looked really cool from what I saw of it on their website! They did some really fantastic videos/animations showcasing his models in a really interesting way from what I saw.

[@dragonzilla6482]

@@pupbenny It was one of the best exhibitions that I ever visited and I made a video well four parts on it, by the way is their a particular Harryhausen movie that you like? mine are Jason and the Argonauts, the three Sinbad films and the original Clash of the Titans.

[@pupbenny]

@@dragonzilla6482 I'll take a look at those videos, I'd love to see it! I think my favourite is probably Jason and the Argonauts as I have a very vivid memory of watching it when I was extremely young. In particular, I remember the harpies. I'm not sure if I appeared to be scared of them but I remember my dad repeatedly saying 'don't worry, they're just dummies'. Though, if I recall correctly, the fact that he kept telling me not to be worried about them was what freaked me out more than anything lol. This was when I was too young to actually know what the word 'dummy' meant and, as a result, for a while, I believed that 'Dummies' were what these creatures were called lol.

[@jamesmaythearsonist]

You need to make a video on "War of the Servers", highly recommend it.

[@pupbenny]

Ah thank you for the recommendation, I'll take a look! :D

[@heru-deshet359]

That stop motion Martian's face looked similar to the Kraken from "Clash of the Titans".

[@trevormillar1576]

Harryhausen once said that he wished he'd had a dollar for every six-year old critic of "1,000,000BC" Who toldhim that he "didn't know nuffink" about ptrodactyls, as" they didn't get that big, didn't have bat-wings, and didn't flap".

[@trevorday7923]

Would he have included the most badass scene of the book, the battle between three Martian tripods and HMS Thunderchild? Apart from the Jeff Wayne musical I can't think of ANY versions in movies or TV actually including it

[@beckoning-chasm]

The thing that bothers me about Harryhausen's Martian is the same thing that bothers me about a lot of his models--those damn cheek flaps, or whatever they're called. Muttonchops? I guess they're there because they make animating the mouth easier (and trust me, I'm in favor of anything that makes animating easier), but they give the faces a comical old man look. Excellent documentary, by the way.

[@scoopidyschloop]

8:15 OOF

[@PerfectYakon2219]

Say can you do a short animation on Ray Harryhausen's Tripods and Martians that would be fun to see em move around and attacking humans too

[@edgyboi728]

..man i am really digging ray's martian design, it looks like an infant version of cetus (aka the "kraken") from the original clash of the titans film

[@toainsully]

This film would've got me into Ray Harryhausen as well as War of the Worlds

[@lochumezung8313]

The higher frame rates look good

[@davidadiwego4608]

It would've been awesome, and creepy. . . Stop motion animated monsters/creatures always freaked me out.

[@davidmccann9811]

I my opinion his design for the Martian head resembles both his 1957 'Ymir' and his much later 'Kraken'.

[@tubian323]

I don't know if its intentional but the Martian seems to wipe it's brow as if to say "Whew it's hot!"😁

[@boloschmolo-u7f]

Love this series as well as the Oddworld series

[@pupbenny]

Thank you! :)

[@cybergaming842]

What 3d model did you use for the tripods?

[@iangreen4572]

The BBC made an adaptation of the Tripods in the early 80's, so it could've been done.

[@sonofeyeabovealleffoff5462]

Its a crime this wasn't made.

[@gpetheri]

Today I learned Martians use left hand thread... 🙃

[@jasonwhite7905]

Something else interesting about the alien's technological evolution, that didn't come up in this video, the aliens did not use the wheel. Perhaps a commentary technology used on lesser civilizations, because when you think about the conquest of African tribes or the native Americans, they didn't use the wheel, and that technological disparity ultimately sealed their fate.

[@sniperpro4656]

Is there still more oddworld vids to come

[@pupbenny]

eventually but probably not any time soon.

[@frankmartinez4856]

Heard once that a short film in 1938 at UCLA, was made! Then no more was said about it 😬

[@Rayman1971]

Evil Martians, using reverse threads on their death machines!!! (7:42)

[@johnnoble01]

I would have changed the eyes . Round eyes always look too soft. I would give it more of a scowl to make it look more menacing .

[@user-db2fb1db1m]

Sinbad and clash of the titans were so most excellent I remember watching that stuff new Wow

[@iangreen4572]

His drawings of the Martians look a lot like the Kraken from the original Clash of the Titans.

[@andylikesstuffchannel]

On character of the films they're in is his legacy

[@ronbird121]

great when old meets new, the fingers of the aliens compared to the lazer gunns of the modern tripods

[@ptonpc]

I had never seen the footage. What could have been.

[@videogeekin]

Of course Pal was one of the first to make the Special Effects the stars and not hire big name movie stars.

[@mucro849]

It is a shame the movie was not made, the Martians were well done.

[@Josh_the_Fighting_Machine]

Save 3:01 Edit: I liked my own comment

[@spaceghost4474]

I have been hoping for an accurate movie to be done for War Of The World's almost my entire adult life, and it looks as if I'm going to die disappointed.

[@Fred-l5l]

Looks very much like the Kracken from Clash of the Titans.

[@denifnaf5874]

War of the oddworlds

[@pupbenny]

In my Stockyards video there's a bit where I call the watchtowers 'War of the worlds Glukkon edition' and I've since always regretted not saying 'War of the oddworlds' instead lol.

[@Dinosaurprince]

Fifty FREE?

[@user-db2fb1db1m]

It looks like Simon Vesenthol

[@Walesbornandbred]

Than Martain looks more like a sea creature.

[@antoniocarlis]

💕

[@lucasdeaver9192]

I read the book. Its not written in a style that would translate to a modern film. One would almost always have to make changes to update it for a modern audience. The ideas are still relevant and fascinating but the story arc is flat.

[@charlesballard5251]

I've always found the George Pal movie to be lacking. Nice designs for the Martian War Machines (notice I don't refer to them as "Tripods"), great sound effect for the heat-ray firing, but other than that... there wasn't a lot there. I've seen probably every other adaptation that's ever been made and honestly, I didn't like a single one of them. Don't even talk about the adaptation from Pendragon. AWFUL PIECE OF EXCREMENT!!!!! It looked like it was made by a high school drama club and they had the geeks in the computer club do the effects. it would have been nice see Harryhausen's vision. Oh, well.

[@Mel0dyMusic]

yo yo could you make a jeff wyane video

[@pupbenny]

Absolutely! I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually. :)

[@PointyTailofSatan]

There's a reason tripedal motion doesn't exist in nature. Because it's STUPID, like a 2 legged stool, or a 2D house.

[@Sunweaver593]

Or a two legged animal

[@PointyTailofSatan]

@@Sunweaver593 We are a four legged animal. But height and arms with hands was eventually more evolutionarily advantageous.

[@r.g.o3879]

I'm assuming the narrator is a Brit by his odd language. Like what in the heck is a haytch? When he says Wells name as in H G Wells. The H is for Herbert in no way does that sound like Haytch G Wells, at best it's Aytch as in Hank. If this bugs you then that's just too bad. There are over 350,000,000 of us and we've all got guns!!!

[@ianallan8005]

Some misbegotten souls think that the 8th letter of the alphabet is “haitch”. It boils my piss, and I’m a Brit