Because most of the real talent in making a movie is behind the camera and known only to fans. The actors they call “talent” are usually a joke and suitable only as fodder for tabloids and they disintegrate in public.

At least you only have to mourn as a spectator. Consider my situation the past six years I’ve been working on “The Saucer Fleet.” I started writing it in 2002 and the subjects have been shuffling off this mortal coil at a regular pace. Going in chapter order, here’s who’s left us:

The Day the Earth Stood Still – Robert Wise (director)

War of the Worlds – Al Nozaki (art director, designer of the war machines) and Les Tremayne (General Mann).

This Island Earth – Joseph Newman (director)

Forbidden Planet – Bebe Barron (music, well, “electronic tonalities”) and Les Tremayne again (opening narration).

Lost in Space – Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith)

Disneyland Flying Saucer Ride – John Hench, project manager.

At least Ray Harryhausen (Earth vs. the Flying Saucers) is still with us, as is Roy Thinnes (The Invaders). Hope I can get this out before any more of them depart.

- Jack

I’m not at all confused about which film version of “The Thing” he worked on, really. Edward asked a question about that and it was answered quickly by John
Rich

So, I loaded up his filmography on IMDB so they could get a sense of the movies they’ve seen but didn’t know he was involved with.

With each one that they recognized, they would issue a screech. Once they saw JP IV, I had to stop and send them out of the room lest my ears begin to bleed.

My youngest recently received the Jurassic Park box set for his birthday and both children have thoroughly enjoyed the “making of” features so Stan is coincidentally fresh in their minds. Their grief is genuine as is their gratitude.

To all of us who are feeling the loss, my sincerest condolences and appreciation not only to those close to Stan but also to those who stand in awe of the art he produced.

Generations of artists are inspired by his work. That is one magnificent legacy.

Kol

Rob Bottin designed and built a bulk of what you see in that film. Stan Winton and crew were called in to help Bottin with the massive workload which was just too much for 1 man to oversee.

Winton’s contribution to the movie is the, already mentioned, kennel scene.

If you buy the DVD of The Thing there is an amazing 2 hour long documentary about the making of the film, and has a great interview with Stan Winston, and even he says something like “I don’t want to take any thing away from Rob, this is HIS movie!”

Edward > The original movie, ‘Thing from another world’ was made in 1951, Stan Winston was born in 1946 (that’s in the title of this post by the way) and was 5 years old at the time…

sirjonsnow> Rob Bottin was born in 1959 so he didn’t work on the original movie either…!

richard > a quick search on google confirms what Brando said … Rob Bottin was indeed in the head of the FX team for ‘The thing’ (see http://www.outpost31.com/movie/specialfx.html) , Winston only worked on a part of the dog scene, so it’s inaccurate to credit him as the maker of the FX for the whole movie (he appears under ‘additional make-up effects’ on imdb for the movie, see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/fullcredits#cast)

RIP

I forgot he did “The Thing” until a few days ago, I rewatched the “Making of” feature on my DVD.

I hope his team can carry on the great work that he managed.
He really knew his business.

He’d have had to be a bit of a child prodigy with the special effects to work on the 1951 film, as he’d have only been around 5 years old then…

My daughter Victoria & I met Stan at the Bayly Art Museum at UVa 8 or so years ago when he gave a talk about special effects (in association with the Virginia Film Festival). There were only about 25 of us there at the talk. Stan was there with a full-sized velociraptor model, Terminator head and other goodies. Unforgettable! Vick was 6 years old or so at the time.

Great guy, he’ll be missed!
Rich in Charlottesville

The 1982 remake, not the original, according to IMDB.

Watch The Thing. Do it now.

When you are done, look at the production date.

1982

I grew up reading. The first real book I read was when my brother handed me Dune somewhere near the age of 15. From there I moved onto Clarke. The news of his passing affected me. Not like this.

This took my breath away. Does.

The number of movies he has touched…

He brought to life the rest of the iceberg our imaginations conjured.

No one will ever fill your shoes Stan.