I brought in the stories many times. I don't just do animation.

If you make things too real, sometimes you bring it down to the mundane.

There’s a strange quality in stop-motion photography, like in King Kong, that adds to the fantasy. If you make things too real, sometimes you bring it down to the mundane.

When you put a big budget into a film, it doesn't necessarily mean it will be a better picture, but it does help in creating new images on the screen.

You could believe that Sinbad could fight a skeleton because that's from a period in the past, a magical period. But if you had James Bond fighting a skeleton, it'd be almost comical.

I took courses at USC in film editing and art direction and photography when I was still in high school.

One film critic back in the early days said "It's a pity Mr. Harryhausen didn't animated the actors, too."

That's why I never became a director. I never had patience with people.

Animation requires a great deal of concentration, and I preferred to work alone because then I'm not deterred by somebody asking me if I want coffee, or the phone ringing or something.

The whole point of making a film is to tell a story.

Look beneath the surface

Fear is the lack of faith in one's ability to create powerful solutions.

Confidence is good, but confidence with humility is far better.

There are times when parenthood seems nothing more than feeding the hand that bites you.

There is a very good chance I could have been a screw-up for the rest of my life.

Black folk, a lot of us lived as victims in a certain part of our history. And we had to really erase that tape. We're not victims. We are citizens.

An agreement is never reached in love. The life of a wife and husband who love each other is never at rest. Whether the marriage is true or false, the marriage portion is the same: elemental discord.

...that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ and that the whole Earth may be filled with his glory.

You need to learn to see and compose. The more time you waste worrying about your equipment the less time you'll have to put into creating great images. Worry about your images, not your equipment.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens is my favourite book.