Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Remembering Stan Winston Creations

We've seen a lot of loss in the entertainment world over the last two years. We've mourned spokemen and singers, pin-ups and pop stars, newsmen, actors, wrestlers and so forth. Fans of sci-fi and movie horror remember June 16, 2008 as the day we lost Stan Winston.

An Academy Award winning makeup, creature and visual effects artist and one of the most imaginative and innovative in the hollywood industry of SFX work, Winston was truly a master of the genre and one in a million. I had the good fortune to meet the man a few years back, just before his seven year struggle with multiple myeloma had begun.

It's often been said never to meet your heroes. You'll be disappointed. In this instance I'm happy to say that nothing could be further from the truth, and I'm very glad I did while I had the opportunity. The man was cheerful, accommodating and very encouraging of those who shared his passion for the art of film.

From the official Stan Winston Studio Release:

In a career that spanned over four decades, Stan Winston worked primarily in movies and television, often honored for his artistic and technical achievement. In the early years of his television career, Winston earned five Emmy nominations from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, winning for Gargoyles and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

Over the course of the next 20 years, he received another nine nominations in both makeup and visual effects, winning a total of four Oscars for Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the groundbreaking Jurassic Park, for which he created full-scale animatronic dinosaurs.

To top it all off, Stan Winston received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2001. Not content to rest on his laurels, the special effects artist then turned his creative eye to the toy world.

Which brings us to Stan Winston Studio Creations Creatures--a high risk gamble in plastic and resin previously won by only a few who lived on the fringes of the entertainment/toy industry and who dared seek to break past the boundary. I can only think of a handful worth mentioning who have managed to pull off the hat trick.

McFarlane Toys is of course the front runner, and the model against all for measurement. No one can deny Todd's influence has gone well past what was expected of a mere comic book artist and fledgling writer. Moore Creations is another--though the empire rose and fell rather quickly on MAC. Jerry Macaluso and SOTA would be a third, though recent changes may threaten the continued success of SOTA in its current incarnation. Jerry left a while back to concentrate on his special effects company and other business ventures with Sideshow Collectibles.

Determined to be one of the proud few to rise above the norm, Winston once again defied the odds with the creation of Stan Winston Creatures. After a rocky commercial start with the first series of limited articulation statues, the second series promised improved articulation and better paint apps...and delivered on that promise with a home run hit that more than met toy collector expectations!

Enter Realm of the Claw:

Stan Winston Creations Creatures Series 2 Realm of the Claw was a series of 8 inch scale big game cats (think Thundercats McFarlane style) with detailed display base dioramas, intricately sculpted accessories including the addition of a second head (long before SOTA or Marvel Legends BAF's came up with the idea) and a collector's trading card with password into the exclusive behind the scenes Realm of the Claw website and an online comic book telling the origins of these heroic and villainous feline clans.

The concept was amazingly new. What if Frank Frazetta (of Conan and other fantasy art fame) did Masters of the Universe, or Thundercats. Throw in a little McFarlane for good measure, and this is as close as you'll ever get to seeing this dream series become reality. And a reality it was. The extremely detailed feline sculpts still hold with the best of even today's horror/sci-fi action figure collectibles, including all the other mavericks who had gone before. In this instance, Stan Winston's Creations was a huge success and even managed to break new ground with amazing, innovative articulation, unique diorama bases not seen since the golden days of Aurora models, and HUGE painting-like packaging that is more like art!

The Legend of Realm of the Claw:

At the dawn of creation, the world was jungle. Beasts roamed free and the Earth was wild. And then there came creatures of unrivaled power. They were the lords of the Realm. The wise wind blew, and the elders Nakuru and Sabyr were born. Fire struck down from the heavens, and brothers Tswana and Tare appeared. Water swirled, and out of the tides came the sisters Kaela and Zynda. Now the sides of good and evil must battle over who will rule the Animal Kingdom.

Quite an accomplishment for a toy company only on its second series! But what else would you expect from the visionary creator of The Terminator, Aliens, Predator, Pumpkinhead, and countless other classic film monsters? Sadly, as is the way with most toy companies who dare think outside the box and create their own properties rather than relying on established movie and tv licenses, Stan Winston Creations slowly fell into obscurity only a few years later. Prototype art sketches and preliminary designs were shown...and there was some amazing product promised...but ultimately none of it ever saw production. Stan Winston Creatures dissolved a short time after. But we still have five amazing action figure series to remember them by!

Yes, special effects master Stan Winston may have left us early at the age of 62, but he left a remarkable four decade legacy and imprint on the entertainment world not only in makeup, special effects, animatronics and art production design...but also, at one time, as close as your local Toys R Us.
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If you'd like to see what all the fuss is about, join Denny at his official blog page here and DC Collectibles, where you can purchase Realm of the Claw and other fine collectibles. Or if you're in the mood for a twit, follow us at http://twitter.com/DCCollectibles

Looking for a place to talk toys? Try He-Man.Org or Raving Toy Maniac where you can read more about the Stan Winston Creations series here.

Until next time...same bat-channel

Denny Crane