Four Ray Bradbury links and news items.

(1) RAY AND RAY. Here’s the trailer for the documentary Ray Bradbury & Ray Harryhausen: 2 Legends, 2 Friends. The 37-minute video is available as an on-demand rental.

During the production of “The Fantasy Film World of Ray Harryhausen”, Ray Harryhausen and Ray Bradbury sat together and in a freewheeling conversation talked about their friendship, films, the future, and shared teenage escapades. Filmed in 1981, the two legends are at the the top of their games, enjoying each others company, and along the way end up giving an inspiring pep talk about chasing your dreams. Also included in this “as it happened” recording are additional comments by Bradbury, and casual conversation between the 2 Rays before and after the “official” interview. It’s a “must see” for fans of either or both Rays, and anyone looking to excel in the creative arts.

* The original plan was to re-release an extended version of “The Fantasy Film World of Ray Harryhausen documentary, with this as the main Special Feature. Now, we hope by making this conversation between the 2 Rays available, it will enable us to convert more of the original analog tape elements into digital files including the extensive interviews with Harryhausen, Charles H. Schneer, Kerwin Mathews, and Mrs. Willis O”Brien. It’s film history worth preserving, and maybe one day the extended version of the documentary will be able to be released.

 

(2) WHAT DOES HE KNOW? “Ray Bradbury was Once Told His Interpretation of His Own Book Was Wrong”.

Ray Bradbury is a name synonymous with one book, Fahrenheit 451, a novel set in a twisted future version of America where books are burned on sight. The book is well-regarded as a literary classic and it has been studied by academics for decades, some of whom once told Bradbury, to his face, that he was wrong about his own book. …

(3) ICE CREAM SUIT RETURNS. On June 23 the South Pasadena Library is doing a screening of The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. Joe Mantegna is scheduled to talk about the movie since he was in the original stage production in Chicago and in the movie.

(4) FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST MOON LANDING. “Ray Bradbury Looks Back at Apollo 11”, the July 20, 2009 episode of Planetary Radio.

The beloved author, poet, dramatist, and visionary Ray Bradbury revisits Planetary Radio to share his memories of the first Moon landing forty years ago this week. Ray also talks about Mars and other favorite topics. Bill Nye joins our celebration of one of the greatest days in all of human history. Bruce Betts and Mat Kaplan learn what listeners might have said if they had been in Neil Armstrong’s boots. That’s after sharing news of the night sky in What’s Up, and offering a new space trivia contest..