Phil Tippett

Visual Effects

Phil Tippett

Born

1951-09-27 (75)

Place of birth

Berkeley, California

Known for

Visual Effects

Credits

66 titles

Phil Tippett is an American filmmaker and multi-award-winning visual effects supervisor and producer, specializing in creature design, stop-motion, and computerized character animation. Over his career, he has assisted ILM, DreamWorks, and his own company Tippet Studios, with his work appearing in movies such as the original Star Wars trilogy, Jurassic Park, and RoboCop.

Known for

Star Wars poster
8.2

Princess Leia is captured and held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing captain Han Solo team together with the loveable robot duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the beautiful princess and restore peace and justice in the Empire.

Star Wars

1977

Return of the Jedi poster
7.9

Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.

Return of the Jedi

1983

The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs poster
7.2

The World’s Foremost Drive-in Movie Critic – actually he’s pretty much the world’s only Drive-in Critic – Joe Bob Briggs brings his iconic swagger to this firebrand of horror and drive-in cinema offering honest appreciation, hilarious insight, inside stories and of course, the Drive-in totals.

The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs

2019

The Movies That Made Us poster
7.3

These blockbusters brought us together and gave us the time of our lives. Meet the actors, directors and industry insiders who made them happen.

The Movies That Made Us

2019

LIGHT & MAGIC poster
7.9

When George Lucas set out to make Star Wars, little did he know he would end up revolutionizing an industry. This is the story of a team of creative geniuses who put the magic in the movies we love.

LIGHT & MAGIC

2022

The Real History of Science Fiction poster
6.8

The series heads to the very frontiers of space and science to produce the definitive television history of science fiction, told through its impact on cinema, television and literature, with the help of filmmakers, writers, actors, and graphic artists. Each episode will explore one of the enduring themes of science fiction: time travel; the exploration of space; robots and artificial intelligence; and aliens.

The Real History of Science Fiction

2014

Film credits

2020s · 9 titles

Jurassic Punk poster
6.7

Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams is a pioneer in computer animation. His digital dinosaurs of Jurassic Park transformed Hollywood in 1993, but an appetite for anarchy and reckless disregard for authority may have cost him the recognition he deserved.

Jurassic Punk

2022

In Search of Tomorrow poster
6.8

A nostalgic journey through ’80s Sci-Fi-films, exploring their impact and relevance today, told by the artists who made them and by those who were inspired to turn their visions into reality.

In Search of Tomorrow

2022

Star Wars : La Révolution Visuelle poster
6.2

No synopsis available yet.

Star Wars : La Révolution Visuelle

2020

Lost to Time: Unearthing the Primevals poster
NR

Documentary about the 30-year long process of David Allen's The Primevals.

Lost to Time: Unearthing the Primevals

2024

Walking with Animators poster
NR

Dozens of acclaimed animation artists from around the world reveal their creative philosophies and deeply personal connections to the world of animation.

Walking with Animators

2026

Why Dinosaurs? poster
NR

A dinosaur-obsessed teen and his filmmaker father travel the world interviewing paleontologists about the latest discoveries, tracking down the crew of Jurassic Park, digging up 150-million-year-old bones, and meeting dino fanatics of all walks of life.

Why Dinosaurs?

2025

Slice! poster
NR

With 18 golf holes of terror, heads will surely roll.

Slice!

2022

No artwork available
NR

Discussion about David Allen's "The Primevals" at Industrial Light and Magic in San Francisco.

A Celebration of Tenacity

2024

Making Magic: The Artistry of Karel Zeman poster
NR

In this conversation, filmed by the Criterion Collection in 2019, animator and visual-effects supervisor Phil Tippett and visual-effects artist Jim Aupperle discuss their appreciation for director Karel Zeman and his cinematic techniques.

Making Magic: The Artistry of Karel Zeman

2020

2010s · 10 titles

Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex poster
7.2

The Frankenstein Complex takes a historical as well as a creative perspective, with a mix of fascinating scenes behind the camera, film clips, and dozens of interviews with all the big names in the industry. In addition to the many wonderful anecdotes, the film also offers a wealth of beautiful test material, while along the way showing how the art of filmmaking has changed over the years. An affectionate ode to monster makers throughout history.

Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex

2015

Secrets of the Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey poster
7.1

An inside look at the making of the movie Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), featuring footage and exclusive interviews with the actors and filmmakers.

Secrets of the Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey

2016

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan poster
7.4

There’s only one person who so accurately personifies movie magic in the history of film, and that man is special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen. Focusing on the man behind the landmark effects on films like Clash Of The Titans, One Million Years B.C., Jason And The Argonauts and many more, this in-depth film features interviews with the great man himself, and with an array of animators and directors influenced by his work including Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson, Nick Park, Terry Gilliam, James Cameron and Steven Spielberg. The film also features unseen footage of tests and experiments recently uncovered.

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan

2012

Return to Jurassic Park poster
6.6

A multi-part documentary about the making of the Jurassic Park trilogy. Each part walks through the making of part of one of the films, including the hurricane during the shooting of the first film, and how advances in CGI for Jurassic Park helped change the world of special effects forever. All interviews for these retrospective documentaries come with comments from Spielberg, Johnston, Neill, Dern, Goldblum, the effects crews, the child actors, and Peter Stormare. This documentary is broken into six parts: Dawn of a New Era (25 min), Making Prehistory (20 min), The Next Step in Evolution (15 min), Finding the Lost World (28 min), Something Survived (16 min), and The Third Adventure (25 min).

Return to Jurassic Park

2011

Corporate Wars: The Making of 'RoboCop 2' poster
7.0

This retrospective features both archival and 2017 interviews with cast and crew members. It includes interviews with CG supervisor Paul M. Sammon, executive producer Patrick Crowley, associate producer Phil Tippett, cinematographer Mark Irwin as well as actors Nancy Allen, Tom Noonan, and Galyn Görg. Sammon's 1989/90 interviews with producer Jon Davidson and director Irvin Kershner are excerpted. There is also vintage rehearsal and BTS footage.

Corporate Wars: The Making of 'RoboCop 2'

2017

The Creative Brain poster
7.2

Neuroscientist David Eagleman taps into the creative process of various inventors, while exploring brain-bending, risk-taking ways to spark creativity

The Creative Brain

2019

Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters poster
7.6

An in-depth, sad, and beautiful documentary about the stop motion and VFX artist Phil Tippett, a man who changed the landscape of visual effects in film.

Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters

2019

Worse Than the Demon poster
7.0

A short documentary following artist Phil Tippett, as he turns away from the commercial successes of Hollywood and delves into his 35-year-long passion project MAD GOD. Created as her undergrad thesis by Maya Tippett, the subject's daughter, the film chronicles Phil's journey as an artist as he commits himself to the subterranean stop-motion world of monsters, demons and mad scientists.

Worse Than the Demon

2013

No artwork available
10.0

Visual effects experts Phil Tippett discusses the legacy of Ray Harryhausen.

The Secrets of Sinbad: Phil Tippett on Ray Harryhausen

2017

No artwork available
NR

Phil Tippett is the Oscar-winning stop-motion animator and designer behind some of the greatest fantasy creatures and sci-fi set pieces in cinema history. From his humble beginnings as an alien patron in the iconic Cantina sequence from 'Star Wars: A New Hope', to pioneering stop-motion techniques used throughout 'Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi', to seamlessly merging practical animation and CGI in Jurassic Park and beyond. In 'My Life in Monsters', VICE chronicles Tippett's legendary life work, illustrating the process behind his greatest creations, the emotional hardships of transitioning into Hollywood's digital revolution, and completing his return-to-form, stop-motion opus with the brutal, dystopian 'Mad God'.

My Life In Monsters

2015

2000s · 10 titles

Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy poster
7.6

From the earliest versions of the script to the blockbuster debuts, explore the creation of the Star Wars Trilogy.

Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy

2004

Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection poster
8.0

For over a half century, Ray Harryhausen has amazed and inspired countless filmmakers and fans around the world with his breathtaking motion picture effects and stop-motion animation. Presented here for the first time ever is the authorized collection of his earliest work, along with hours of supplemental features.

Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection

2005

The Sci-Fi Boys poster
7.0

Legendary all-stars of cinema bring to life the evolution of science-fiction and special effects films from the wild and funny days of B-movies to blockbusters that have captured the world's imagination. This is the story of the Sci-Fi Boys, who started out as kids making amateur movies inspired by Forrest J Ackerman's FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine and grew up to take Hollywood by storm, inventing the art and technology for filming anything the mind can dream.

The Sci-Fi Boys

2006

Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet poster
4.8

Documentary film exploring the making, and legacy of 'Forbidden Planet'

Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet

2006

Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001 poster
6.2

Stanley Kubrick's groundbreaking 2001: A Space Odyssey opened the door to all the films and filmmakers who followed it. Through interviews with directors such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Sydney Pollack - as well as special effects professionals and cultural historians - this documentary examines the legacy of Kubrick's masterpiece and its influence on science fiction films, special effects and world cinema.

Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001

2007

Starship Troopers: Know Your Foe poster
NR

Five part documentary on the bugs of “Starship Troopers.” Featuring interviews with special effects artists Phil Tippett and Craig Hayes of Tippett Studios, Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. of Amalgamated Dynamics, and Kevin Yagher. Produced for the “Starship Troopers” DVD.

Starship Troopers: Know Your Foe

2002

American Scary poster
7.5

A fond remembrance of and tribute to the uniquely American institution of the horror movie host.

American Scary

2006

RKO Production 601: The Making of “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World” poster
8.0

The astonishing story of the genesis, production, worldwide success, and legacy of King Kong (1933), directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, a landmark of cinema, one of the most influential motion pictures in history.

RKO Production 601: The Making of “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World”

2008

Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001 poster
6.0

This documentary about "2001: A Space Odyssey" looks at some of the things that seemed fanciful in 1968, which don't seem quite as much anymore.

Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001

2007

Flesh + Steel: The Making of 'RoboCop' poster
7.8

A look behind the scenes at the making of this science fiction classic about a policeman killed in the line of duty, only to be reborn as a half-man, half-machine supercop. Includes interviews with star Peter Weller and director Paul Verhoeven, who give their views on the efforts that went into making the film.

Flesh + Steel: The Making of 'RoboCop'

2001

1980s · 6 titles

Return of the Jedi poster
7.9

Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.

Return of the Jedi

1983

SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back poster
8.2

Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!

SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back

1980

From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga poster
7.4

From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga is a 1983 television documentary special that originally aired on PBS. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the original Star Wars trilogy, with particular emphasis on the final film, Return of the Jedi. Narrated by actor Mark Hamill, the documentary was written by Richard Schickel who had written the previous television documentaries The Making of Star Wars (1977) and SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga

1983

The Making of The Empire Strikes Back poster
8.0

Even the most devout Star Wars fan might not know that filmmaker and journalist Michel Parbot was once given unprecedented access to the set, stars, and filmmakers behind The Empire Strikes Back. The resulting work, The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, has apparently never been commercially released. Most of the footage has been lost, but 15 minutes has circulated online in recent years. Now, the 1 hour cut of Michel Parbot’s lost documentary has been found.

The Making of The Empire Strikes Back

1980

Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi poster
8.8

Go behind the scenes — and into the costumes — as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film.

Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi

1983

Willow: The Making of an Adventure poster
7.3

A behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the film Willow (1988). Included are interviews with cast and crew and scenes of the actual filming of the production itself.

Willow: The Making of an Adventure

1988

Undated · 4 titles

Series credits

The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs poster
7.2

The World’s Foremost Drive-in Movie Critic – actually he’s pretty much the world’s only Drive-in Critic – Joe Bob Briggs brings his iconic swagger to this firebrand of horror and drive-in cinema offering honest appreciation, hilarious insight, inside stories and of course, the Drive-in totals.

The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs

2019

The Movies That Made Us poster
7.3

These blockbusters brought us together and gave us the time of our lives. Meet the actors, directors and industry insiders who made them happen.

The Movies That Made Us

2019

LIGHT & MAGIC poster
7.9

When George Lucas set out to make Star Wars, little did he know he would end up revolutionizing an industry. This is the story of a team of creative geniuses who put the magic in the movies we love.

LIGHT & MAGIC

2022

LIGHT & MAGIC poster
7.9

When George Lucas set out to make Star Wars, little did he know he would end up revolutionizing an industry. This is the story of a team of creative geniuses who put the magic in the movies we love.

LIGHT & MAGIC

2022

LIGHT & MAGIC poster
7.9

When George Lucas set out to make Star Wars, little did he know he would end up revolutionizing an industry. This is the story of a team of creative geniuses who put the magic in the movies we love.

LIGHT & MAGIC

2022

LIGHT & MAGIC poster
7.9

When George Lucas set out to make Star Wars, little did he know he would end up revolutionizing an industry. This is the story of a team of creative geniuses who put the magic in the movies we love.

LIGHT & MAGIC

2022

The Real History of Science Fiction poster
6.8

The series heads to the very frontiers of space and science to produce the definitive television history of science fiction, told through its impact on cinema, television and literature, with the help of filmmakers, writers, actors, and graphic artists. Each episode will explore one of the enduring themes of science fiction: time travel; the exploration of space; robots and artificial intelligence; and aliens.

The Real History of Science Fiction

2014

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop poster
8.1

An in-depth look into the ground breaking franchise and features new interviews with cast and crew.

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop

2023

Icons Unearthed: Star Wars poster
7.0

Marcia Lucas, Oscar-winning film editor and ex-wife of George Lucas, sits down for her first-ever on-camera interview and provides unique insight into the rise of LucasFilm — including her 14-year marriage to and eventual divorce from George Lucas — the editing of the original Star Wars trilogy, the origin of the idea that Darth Vader would be Luke’s father and if there were really originally plans for nine movies.

Icons Unearthed: Star Wars

2022

Behind the camera

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation poster
4.5

A group of troopers take refuge in an abandoned outpost after fighting alien bugs, failing to realize that more danger lays in wait.

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation

2004

Mad God poster
6.8

A silent figure known as The Assassin travels through a nightmare underworld of tortured souls, ruined cities and wretched monstrosities forged from the primordial horrors of the unconscious mind of Phil Tippett, the world's preeminent stop-motion animator.

Mad God

2021

Mad God poster
6.8

A silent figure known as The Assassin travels through a nightmare underworld of tortured souls, ruined cities and wretched monstrosities forged from the primordial horrors of the unconscious mind of Phil Tippett, the world's preeminent stop-motion animator.

Mad God

2021

Mad God poster
6.8

A silent figure known as The Assassin travels through a nightmare underworld of tortured souls, ruined cities and wretched monstrosities forged from the primordial horrors of the unconscious mind of Phil Tippett, the world's preeminent stop-motion animator.

Mad God

2021

No artwork available
NR

A soldier undergoes a transcendental experience at the moment of his death.

Sentinel

—

Mad God: Part 1 poster
6.3

Mad God is a fully practical stop-motion film set in a Miltonesque world of monsters, mad scientists, and war pigs.

Mad God: Part 1

2014

Mad God: Part 1 poster
6.3

Mad God is a fully practical stop-motion film set in a Miltonesque world of monsters, mad scientists, and war pigs.

Mad God: Part 1

2014

Prehistoric Beast poster
7.2

In a dense forest 66 million years ago, a Centrosaurus is stalked by a carnivorous Albertosaurus.

Prehistoric Beast

1984

Dinosaur! poster
NR

In 1985, visual effects supervisor Phil Tippett was commissioned to follow-up his short film "Prehistoric Beast" (1984) with new sequences from the late Cretaceous featuring new dinosaurs (Hadrosaurus, Deinonychus, Struthiomimus and Brontosaurus) for the CBS television documentary "Dinosaur!" (1985). Phil Tippett produced a 12-minute short film about the end of the age of the dinosaurs, which was re-edited and narrated over for the TV documentary.

Dinosaur!

1985

Mad God: Part 3 poster
6.2

The third part of Phil Tippett's Mad God, a fully practical stop-motion film set in a Miltonesque world of monsters and mad scientists.

Mad God: Part 3

2018

MutantLand poster
5.7

As the sun goes down in the dark and terrifying Mutantland, hunters are lured into a forbidden zone in their quest for food only to find themselves candidates for the main course.

MutantLand

2010

MutantLand poster
5.7

As the sun goes down in the dark and terrifying Mutantland, hunters are lured into a forbidden zone in their quest for food only to find themselves candidates for the main course.

MutantLand

2010

Mad God: Part 2 poster
7.0

Part 2 of Animation Legend Phil Tippett's apocalyptic stop-motion descent into the bowels of the unconscious

Mad God: Part 2

2016

Mad God: Part 2 poster
7.0

Part 2 of Animation Legend Phil Tippett's apocalyptic stop-motion descent into the bowels of the unconscious

Mad God: Part 2

2016