
Willis H. O'Brien
Directing
Biography
Willis O'Brien was an American special effects pioneer in the field of stop-motion animation.
Known For

Adventurous filmmaker Carl Denham sets out to produce a motion picture unlike anything the world has seen before. Alongside his leading lady Ann Darrow and his first mate Jack Driscoll, they arrive on an island and discover a legendary creature said to be neither beast nor man. Denham captures the monster to be displayed on Broadway as King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world.
King Kong

The advertising director of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, frustrated with the low ratings of their sponsored TV program, seeks a more sensationalist approach. He orders his staff to Faro Island to capture King Kong for exploitation. As Godzilla re-emerges, a media frenzy generates with Pacific looking to capitalize off of the ultimate battle.
King Kong vs. Godzilla

When an underhanded pharmaceutical company goes to a remote tropical island to steal King Kong for advertising purposes, they get more than they bargained for when the gigantic ape attacks an unsuspecting village and an enormous octopus.
King Kong vs. Godzilla

Professor Challenger leads an expedition of scientists and adventurers to a remote plateau deep in the Amazonian jungle to verify his claim that dinosaurs still live there.
The Lost World

A young woman, Jill Young, grew up on her father's ranch in Africa, raising a large gorilla named Joe from an infant. Years later, she brings him to Hollywood to become a star.
Mighty Joe Young

Beleaguered adventurer Carl Denham returns to the island where he found King Kong.
The Son of Kong

In 1933, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, two audacious and visionary directors, dared to create a motion picture that eclipsed everything seen until then: when King Kong was released, it was celebrated as an artistic and technical revolution and became the first myth created by the young cinematic art.
King Kong: Monster and Myth

In this action-filled spectacle set in ancient Pompeii, a blacksmith becomes a Roman gladiator, though his rise to wealth and power is jeopardized by his son's Christianity and the eruption of Vesuvius.
The Last Days of Pompeii

The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam.
The Lost World

Volcanic activity frees giant scorpions from the earth who wreak havoc in the rural countryside and eventually threaten Mexico City.
The Black Scorpion

New York, 1980: airplanes have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, pills have replaced food, government-arranged marriages have replaced love, and test tube babies have replaced ... well, you get the idea. Scientists revive a man struck by lightning in 1930; he is rechristened "Single O". He is befriended by J-21, who can't marry the girl of his dreams because he isn't "distinguished" enough -- until he is chosen for a 4-month expedition to Mars by a renegade scientist. The Mars J-21, his friend, and stowaway Single O visit is full of scantily clad women doing Busby Berkeley-style dance numbers and worshiping a fat middle-aged man.
Just Imagine

Marine atomic tests cause changes in the ocean's ecosystem resulting in dangerous blobs of radiation and the resurrection of a dormant dinosaur which threatens London.
The Giant Behemoth

An American cowboy living in Mexico discovers his cattle is being eaten by a giant prehistoric dinosaur.
The Beast of Hollow Mountain

In a dream Uncle Jack looks through a magic telescope owned by the ghost of a hermit and sees what life was like millions of years ago, including a battle between prehistoric monsters.
The Ghost of Slumber Mountain

Two cavemen, The Duke and Stonejaw Steve, call on Miss Araminta Rockface. The hated rivals fight, and Steve wins when he throws The Duke into a pot of boiling water. A title card introduces a third rival, "our unassuming hero, Theophilus Ivoryhead." Miss Rockface invites the three men into her father's drawing room/cave, apologizing for not offering tea, since it has not been discovered yet. The Duke and Steve fight again, and everyone rushes out of the cave. Mr. Rockface notices his pot of food is empty; earlier, Wild Willie the Missing Link had eaten it. Mr. Rockface tells the three suitors they will have to procure their own dinner. Steve locates a desert quail and shoots an arrow at it, but the arrow misses the quail and happily (for Steve) hits The Duke's behind. Meanwhile, Wild Willie is still hungry and goes hunting for snakes. He finds a dinosaur's tail instead...
The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy

A documentary showcasing the world's many different animal species, both past and present.
The Animal World

A magic aeroplane takes two children to the Moon, where they encounter prehistoric monsters and witness a battle between them. As far as is known this was the first film to combine realistic stop-motion dinosaurs and live-action actors in the same shot. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2008.
Along the Moonbeam Trail

A lost submarine discovers a secret island where dinosaurs still live. The film, 20 minutes long, was scrapped by RKO. Approximately 4 minutes survived.
Creation

Set in prehistoric times, this short film was created for the Edison Company by Willis H. O'Brien, a pioneer of American stop-motion animation.
R.F.D., 10,000 B.C.

Emilio, a poor Mexican boy, is sent by his father to sell an old cow at the village market, so that the family can buy food and seeds. However, a Gypsy talks Emilio into trading the cow for a magical baby bull.