A fascinating, endearing portrait of the legendary animator / effects wizard, starring many of his creations.

Phil Tippett's long career includes some of the biggest Hollywood franchises of all time. From his early fascination for Ray Harryhausen to his work for Star Wars, Robocop and Jurassic Park, French directors Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet deliver a fascinating, endearing portrait of this legendary animator and effects pioneer. 

The French duo behind Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex (Imagine 2017) this time focus on Phil Tippett’s long and illustrious career. Starting with his breakthrough, creating the chess set for Star Wars, the film becomes really moving with the story of Tippett’s involvement in Jurassic Park, originally intended as stop motion, but ending up pioneering CGI. The film holds a very special place for Tippett’s wife Jules Roman, who proposed to him impulsively and remains the president of Tippett Studios until this day. But the real stars are the countless creations and animations, testimony to Tippett’s unparalleled genius.  

Documentary
85 minutes
France
2019
English
Without
Gilles Penso, Alexandre Poncet