Aardman's "Early Man", the Tribute with Ray & Harry.

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When I first heard about the film, the first thought that entered my mind was "I hope they will put Dinosaurs in it!" even in a kids film, Dinosaurs and cavemen have been a hand in hand relationship since the dawn of early cinema, the very first quite possibly being Willis O'Brien's The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy in 1917, that's over 100 years ago!

Whilst the film is based in the Bronze age (so a majority of the animals featured in the film are from the Cenozoic era) there are some nods to Dinosaurs, especially the opening scene; featuring two Dinosaurs, a Ceratosaurus and a Triceratops, battling to the death which resulted in quite a comical twist.
This was a loving homage and tribute to Ray Harryhausen, in fact the Dinosaurs are actually nicknamed Ray & Harry (wait until the end of the end credits if you don't believe me), after seeing this scene in the film and knowing what Ray's sense of humor was like, especially with his love for Laurel and Hardy, I would like to think Ray would have chuckled at this brief but welcoming cameo.

One thing that I found interesting than the inclusion of these Dinosaurs was the making of them; unlike Ray's models, these were created in the Aardman style and construction using updated and traditional techniques for creating the two puppets, taking a different approach to how Ray would have made these two puppets in the 1960's. For example, making the puppets with a silicone skin rather than using foam latex, the mold making  techniques used to ensure the armature sits in the center of the mold during casting and the way the skull is constructed.
Also the scale of these puppets are much smaller than their original counterparts, having seen the original Ceratosaurus hard model at the Valence House exhibit "Dinosaurs, Harryhausen & Me" in early 2018, Aardman's Ceratosaurs puppet is a much more manageable size.



Photo credits go to Gary Roberts, James Young, Frank Harper, Anne King and Verity Filipow

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