"The net Sinbad's men throw over the creature was a fine mesh fish net strengthened by wires, which allowed for animation-very similar to the ones I had sued in 20 Million Miles to Earth and Jason and the Argonauts."

Walrus Giganticus

Creator: Ray Harryhausen

 Film: Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger 1977

Walruses are characterized by their large size, and by their tusks and numerous vibrissae. The Pacific walrus is slightly larger than the Atlantic walrus. Male Pacific walruses weigh about 800 to 1,700 kg (1,764-3,748 lb.) and are about 2.7 to 3.6 m (9-12 ft.) long. Female Pacific walruses weigh about 400 to 1,250 kg (882-2,756 lb.) and are about 2.3 to 3.1 m (7.5-10 ft.) long.

But what you see here was a Walrus Giganticus! a huge creature that attacks Sinbad when they reach the icebergs. They find themselves resting in the middle of a snow storm when Sinbad is awoken by the sound of cracking ice. He investigates and soon this creature emerges from the icy depths of the water and attacks them. The Giant beast goes ahead and kills two of Sinbad's men, one by tossing him into the icy water and the other by crushing him under its giant feet. Sinbad and the rest manage to cover the Walrus' head with a fishing net but the creature fights to get free and is too heavy for Sinbad to catch. Finally the creature has its fun and decides to return to the dark and icy waters, he dives back in from the same opening in the ice cap.

Walrus Giganticus Facts

• The Walrus had an armature covered with pure latex rubber, limiting the amount of movements, but Ray managed to solve the problem to some extent by cutting away some of the unseen latex to relieve the stress on the armature.

• The slabs of ice were made from Styrofoam mounted on wires, and at the time the model was rising, these sections where animated separately to fall away.

• The model of the Walrus was about 20 inches long with bristles for whiskers and tusks made out of resin.

Back

Ray Harryhausen

on the Walrus

"Some critics found the Walrus rather unexciting, but what might seem a straightforward sequence in the film is in effect quite a complex set of animation techniques, which took a great deal of time to produce."

"Although I considered several fictional and non-fictional creatures to break up the trek, among them a Yeti (which would have been fun) and a mammoth, I eventually decided on the reputedly aggressive Walrus."