Colorization of existing black and white films is usually a terrible idea (the colorized version of It's A Wonderful Life, in particular, enrages me).

But sometimes one of the original participants is involved in the process and offers a valid reason for altering the original film. Ray Harryhausen, the stop-motion animation pioneer, recently supervised Legend Films' colorization of several of his early movies, including 20 Million Miles to Earth. The 50th anniversary edition DVD is available now; it will be released on Blue Ray in December. Bonus features include Harryhausen’s audio commentary, an interview of him by Tim Burton and a restored black and white version.

According to Harryhausen, he would have made the film in color had the funding been available. "We filmed in black-and-white out of necessity rather than choice," he said in a 2006 interview. Now the giant Venusian creature has the beautiful green scales its inventor intended.