In the 1950s, public interest in space travel and new technologies was great. While many 1950s science fiction films were low-budget B movies, there were several successful films with larger budgets and impressive special effects. These include "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951), "The Thing from Another World" (1951), "When Worlds Collide" (1951), "The War of the Worlds" (1953), "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954), "This Island Earth" (1955), "Forbidden Planet" (1956), "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1959) and "On the Beach" (1959). There is often a close connection between films in the science fiction genre and the so-called "monster movie". Examples of this are "Them!" (1954), "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (1953) and "The Blob" (1958). During the 1950s, Ray Harryhausen, protege of master King Kong animator Willis O'Brien, used stop-motion animation to create special effects for the following notable science fiction films: "It Came from Beneath the Sea" (1955), "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" (1956) and "20 Million Miles to Earth" (1957).