Remembering Stan Winston by Matthew Watkins on 6.27.08
Visual effects legend, make-up artist, and producer Stan Winston died at the age of 62. A lot of the casual movie-going population probably doesn't even recognize his name, but trying to quantify Stan Winston's effect on my childhood (and adult life) would be nigh impossible, not to mention his effect on film industry.
During the 80s and 90s, it seemed that everything Winston touched became legendary; The Thing, Aliens, Jurassic Park, Predator, Terminator, T2, Monster Squad, and Edward Scissorhands are just a few titles. He brought to life the creatures of The Relic and Lake Placid. In the new millennium, Stan Winston's name can be found in the credits of some of my favorite films: Big Fish, Constantine, and most recently, Iron Man. Indeed, Stan Winston has been no small presence among many great films of the past few decades, whether he was creating creatures, designing dinosaurs, or making-up Michael Keaton in Batman Returns.
He won four Oscars over the course of his multi-decade career, three for visual effects, and one make-up. He was nominated for six others. For a second, imagine Jurassic Park with entirely CG dinosaurs, and Arnold's Terminator looking different than he does. I shudder to think of a world without Winston. Steven Speilberg remembered him earlier this week, saying that "Stan was a fearless and courageous artist/inventor, and for many projects, I rode his cutting edge from teddy bears to aliens to dinosaurs. My world would not have been the same without Stan. What I will miss most is his easy laugh every time he said to me, 'Nothing is impossible.'
This article will remain short, although there is plenty to be said about Winston's work. The internet is teeming with articles about this man, and I simply want to say “thank you.” All movie lovers, especially those fans of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, lost a titan this week.Want to discuss this article in our forums? Click Here
