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"Jim Danforth was assigned to carry out most of the Pegasus aerial scenes, and his professionalism certainly showed through in enhancing the rather difficult sequences."

Pegasus

Creator: Ray Harryhausen

Film: Clash of the Titans

According to Greek mythology Pegasus is the winged horse that was fathered by Poseidon with Medusa. When her head was cut of by the Greek hero Perseus, the horse sprang forth from her pregnant body.

Pegasus is the last of a breed of winged horses that belonged to Zeus, Calibos had hunted them down and killed all of them. When Perseus witnesses Andromeda's astral image being taken to the marshes by the vulture of Calibos, he asks Ammon for help. Ammon tells him that "When the full moon shines in the water then they say Pegasus the last of the winged horses comes to drink."

Perseus then sets a trap to capture Pegasus in the place they called the "wells of the moon" and tame him. He uses his rope and captures him but the creature takes him on a wild ride around the night skies of Joppa. After a couple of minutes up in the air Perseus manages to tame the flying horse and with his help the next night he follows the vulture and arrives at the marshes to confront Calibos and get the answer of the riddle.

Some time later Pegasus is captured by the henchman of Calibos and is taken to the marshes and is unable to help Perseus. After the beheading of Medusa and the fight with Calibos and his giant scorpions at the edge of the underworld; Perseus with his very last breath asks Bubo to find and rescue Pegasus. Bubo arrives at the marshes and causes havoc as he topples down some of the torches that were used to light up the dark place causing a fire that scares the henchmen and the giant Vulture away. In the end Pegasus helps Perseus in the fight with the last of the Titans..the Kraken.

Pegasus Facts

• In total there were three Pegasus models, two approximately 12 inches high with 18-inch wingspans, which were used for the long shots. There was a larger model about 18 inches high with a wingspan of 2 1/2 feet.

• The skin for these models was from unborn goats because the pelts had small pure white hairs in proportion to the size of the models.

• Jim Danforth did some of the flying sequences as well as some of the wings of the horse.

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Ray Harryhausen

on Pegasus

"If Medusa was the main reason I wanted to film the story of Perseus, the flying horse Pegasus came a very close second. Since seeing the wingless flying horse in Korda's The Thief of Baghdad, I had been fascinated with the concept."

"The most visually exciting and challenging Pegasus sequence was the capture and taming of the flying horse by Perseus. The live-action plates for the sequence were shot day-for-night at the Guadix location chosen for the mountains in the background."