The Seventh Voyage
A Journey into the imagination and world of Ray Harryhausen.
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More on Kali
"Kali's dance was basically Indian, and needed some specialized choreography. I was specifically keen on the side-to-side head movements. As with all animation fights, and long before the live action, I had designed and sketched about 50 continuity drawings illustrating the overall pattern of the fight."
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Kali 12 inch Miniature
Kali
Creator: Ray Harryhausen
Film: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad 1973
*Click on the images to see a larger version*
Article written by Marc Hartley (Delflord) for The Seventh Voyage.
Kali ‘the dark Mother’ is the Hindu goddess who
represents destruction. The belt of
skulls
around her waist symbolised savagery and the cannibalism practised by her
cult.
Having escaped the previous treachery of Prince Koura from
his destruction of the temple of the Oracle of all knowledge, Sinbad and his
crew follow Koura and his ally Achmed who have been captured by the green
men, to the Temple of Kali where the six-armed goddess resides. Upon
entering the temple Koura eyes the statue and commands the deity “oh mighty
Kali, mightier than thou am I, make obeisance to me!’ whereby he throws a
phial of potion which strikes the statue on
the head.
After a brief moment Kali begins to turn her head followed by her once stagnant limbs as Koura look on. The green men bow in awe and fear at the sight of their god in motion and at the power of the magician that commands her. Utilising his obvious considerable hold of Kali, Koura beckons her to descend the stairs of her plinth whereby upon reaching the bottom he commands her to “Dance, dance for me”.
Kali
performs a dance for her new master until he shouts “STOP” thus rendering
her motionless once more. The green men leave with Ahmed, as Koura remains
alone with Kali as he desperately searches for the third golden tablet as
foretold by the Oracle of all
knowledge. Upon hearing the noise of Koura in his wild search, Sinbad and
his crew enter the temple. To his surprise, Sinbad then throws a sword to
Koura and tells him “to the death”. Koura recites the words and stepping to
one side of the statue, recites them again adding “to the death Kali, death
to our enemies” whereby he throws her the sword which she catches and
instantly each of
her other five limbs magically sprout a sword of their own.
Following a leer of satisfaction from Koura and a brief hesitant moment,
Sinbad makes the first strike at Kali and an awesome sword battle commences.
The crew quickly join their captain in the battle as Kali fights using all
her arms to terrifying effect. Crew members are maimed and killed as the
goddess follows Sinbad up a stairway onto a platform whereby Haroun sees
that Kali seems to be beginning to win the
fight
and using a
chance moment runs up behind the statue pushing her off the edge of the
platform. The body of Kali smashes as it hits the floor only to reveal the
third Golden tablet that was hidden within her.
Miniature
This creature is available in two forms, the model kit sculpted by Joseph Laudati in 1996. She stands 10" tall and comes with a temple stone base with a treasure chest, vase, pearls and a film logo name plate, the base measures 10"X 5"- cost $120.00 as a kit and $320.00 built and custom painted. The other version is the PVC model it stands 12" tall and is on a limited run 5000 pieces world wide, cost $49.99.
Kali Facts
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In order to rehearse all the six arms with the actors in the sequence three stunt men had to be strapped together with a big belt standing and posing as Kali.
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There was only one model of Kali standing about 14 inches high, made out of latex.
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The entire fighting sequence between Kali and Sinbad and his men was once again choreographed by Fernando Poggi.
This website exists to celebrate and increase appreciation of the work of Mr. Ray Harryhausen in stop motion animation and cinema history and to encourage people to relive these classic films once more. No copyright infringement is intended. Site design and content are copyrighted by theseventhvoyage.com.
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"The staging of the sword fight was almost as complicated as the skeleton
fight in Jason. When one describes the scene, it sounds fairly easy-a number
of actors reacting to an animated 8-foot high bronze statue with six swords
lethal swords- but the reality was actually a nightmare."
"Kali was the third and last of three metal creations I animated during my career, and was by far and away the most active. Because of this, the animation took just over two months to complete."
Miniature
Kali 8 inch miniature.