Monster Conversation: Harryhausen Annual #4 – ‘The Valley of Gwangi’ | MIFV x Kaiju Conversation

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! And Happy Birthday, Ray! Nate and Elijah once again celebrate their birthdays by celebrating Ray Harryhausen's birthday with another deep dive into the stopmotion master's filmography: The Valley of Gwangi. This 1969 dinosaur epic combined the monster movie and western at a time when both genres were past their primes. It failed at the box office, but it has since become a cult classic, and it's no wonder why. Cowboys wrangling dinosaurs, baby! While it aped (pun intended) King Kong (1933), it was Ray's loving tribute to his mentor, Willis O'Brien, who wanted to make this film two decades earlier. It has some of Ray's best work but also some underdeveloped characters. Where does it rank in Nate's and Elijah's lists of Harryhausen films? Listen to find out!

For full show notes, including Nate's bibliography of sources, visit this episode's blog on the MIFV website: https://monsterislandfilmvault.com/index.php/2025/06/29/monster-conversation-harryhausen-annual-4-the-valley-of-gwangi-mifv-x-kaiju-conversation/. 

Additional Music:

• “Legends of Warcraft” by PSK
• “The Dark Ages” by Phil Rey

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, Wynja the Ninja, Christopher Riner, The Indiscrite One, Eli Harris, Jake Hambrick, Matt Walsh (but not that Matt Walsh), Jonathan Courtright, Leon Campbell, Michael Watson, and Sam Allred! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month! (https://www.patreon.com/monsterislandfilmvault)

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic! (https://www.teepublic.com/user/the-monster-island-gift-shop). NEW MERCH NOW AVAILABLE!

This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Timestamps:

• Introduction: 0:00-5:46
• Production History: 5:46-58:19
• Toku Talk (Synopsis and Main Discussion): 58:19-2:50:55
• Outro (housekeeping, etc.): 2:50:55-3:00:00
• Credits: 3:00:00-end

Podcast Social Media:

• MIFV Linktree: https://linktr.ee/monsterislandfilmvault
• Nate’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nathan_marchand
• MIFV is a member of PodNation (https://podnation.tv/)
• MIFV is one of Feedspot’s top 10 tokusatsu podcasts! (https://blog.feedspot.com/tokusatsu_podcasts/)
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