Jim Capobianco Receives Ray Harryhausen Award for The Inventor
Acclaimed director, writer, and animator Jim Capobianco has been honored with the Ray Harryhausen Award for Best Feature Film Animation for his stop-motion and 2D hybrid feature The Inventor. The award was presented last month during the opening reception for Ray Harryhausen: Miniature Models of the Silver Screen at The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures in Tucson, Arizona.
The recognition celebrates Capobianco’s independent production of The Inventor (2023), a visually rich and philosophically inspired animated feature that brings Leonardo da Vinci’s later years to life through a fusion of handcrafted stop-motion puppetry and expressive hand-drawn animation.
A Film of Curiosity and Craft
In The Inventor, Leonardo da Vinci—voiced by Stephen Fry—leaves Italy to join the French court of King Francis I, where he can freely explore his endless curiosity. Alongside Princess Marguerite, voiced by Daisy Ridley, Leonardo experiments with flying machines, anatomical studies, and philosophical questions about the nature of existence itself.
The film’s tactile, painterly aesthetic reflects Capobianco’s deep respect for craftsmanship in animation. Produced as an international collaboration between Curiosity Studio, Foliascope, and Leo & King, the project combines the warmth of physical puppetry with expressive 2D sequences to visualize Leonardo’s sketches and inventions.
The Inventor premiered in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2023 and was later nominated at the Annie Awards for Best Animated Feature – Independent.
Honoring a Tradition of Imagination
The Ray Harryhausen Awards, established by the Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation, honor excellence in the art of animation and visual effects inspired by Harryhausen’s groundbreaking legacy in stop-motion filmmaking. The 2024 ceremony recognized Capobianco’s film for embodying the spirit of discovery, artistry, and imagination that defined Harryhausen’s work.
Accepting the award, Capobianco joined a lineage of filmmakers who have kept the art of physical and hybrid animation alive in a digital age. His achievement underscores a continued appreciation for handcrafted storytelling—an ethos that connects generations of animators from Harryhausen to today’s independent creators.
A Legacy of Storytelling
Jim Capobianco’s career spans decades of animation history. Before venturing into independent filmmaking, he served as a story artist and writer at Walt Disney Feature Animation and Pixar Animation Studios, contributing to The Lion King, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, and Inside Out. His co-writing on Pixar’s Ratatouille earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 2008.
Capobianco first explored his fascination with Leonardo da Vinci in the short film Leonardo (2009), now part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection. The Inventor expands that earlier idea into a full-length story celebrating the beauty of curiosity, invention, and the courage to ask, “What is the meaning of life?”
About the Exhibition
The award was presented at the opening of Ray Harryhausen: Miniature Models of the Silver Screen, an exhibition showcasing original models and artifacts from Harryhausen’s films. Hosted at The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, the event connects the golden age of practical effects to modern-day innovators in stop-motion and hybrid animation.
Capobianco’s recognition at such an event highlights the enduring connection between art, science, and storytelling—the same intersection that inspired both Leonardo da Vinci and Ray Harryhausen.
Sources:
