Hoggle is my example of why most CGI characters in live-action movies are unnecessary. Hoggle is an incredible feat of puppetry combined with the performance of the actor inside the suit, and if that can be accomplished in 1986, then don't tell me that a practical character can't be done today.
L3-37 from Solo is a great example of how to merge practical with CGI. You get the actors real performance, the human actors on set get something real to interact with, and then CGI can fill in some of the gaps and do the things that physically can't be done in reality.
Aside from still being amazing for what they were able to do, it was also the test that established that they were able to make full length feature films.
I was a big fan of all the hidden shit in labrynth, the shots where you’d see one thing and they’d shift perspective to show you something else, like the rock face or the hidden passages. Thats still enthralling to me because they are very very good visual illusion effects.
The helping hands were also great. I wish they’d done a little bit more with those, maybe in other places, and not just the oubliette scene.
Makes me my other half crack up when she's got the giggles. Which reminds me i need to make a new ringtone and swap out the woodchuck song on her phone...
The Swedish Chef is another good one. There are stories about when they were filming and even the studio crew were trying not to make noise while laughing.
There's several Mahna Mahna skits on YouTube (one with Sandra Bullock). They're all brilliantly funny (of course I'm a fan of the one from The Muppet Show).
Also, (I'm sure you know) Cake did a cover of the song around 2000 that's also excellent.
That part in the Dark Crystal where they cast the Chamberlain out. Sooo many moving parts, a large area to cross, lots of interaction. I'm amazed they pulled it off. I wonder how many takes it took.
While not a special effect, I always loved the Muppet Show for its antics in particular. They did so much with practical effects, and they did it amazingly well.
I'm also going to nod at Peter Jackson's "Meet the Feebles" for being a methed out seedy underworld puppet variety show movie. The effects are super campy and cheap. It's spectacular low budget grade b nonsense that will make you go "what the fuck did i just watch?".
23 Comments
homes@piefed.world · 17 pts · 70d
Chilly Down with the Fire Gang from the film Labyrinth
Bonus: the entire thing was choreographed by Cheryl McFadden, a.k.a. Gates McFadden, a.k.a. Dr. Beverly Crusher
The Dancing Doctor indeed
Apeman42@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 70d
Also, two of the fireys are played by the coolest of Cats, Danny John Jules from Red Dwarf.
GraniteM@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 70d
I got her autograph at Dragon Con and she said that they paid her garbage for that gig, but that she loved hanging out with David Bowie.
homes@piefed.world · 2 pts · 70d
I would also love to have been able to hang out with David Bowie
YoFrodo@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 70d
I was going to say Farscape! Glad to see it was your example :)
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 14 pts · 70d
Tim Curry.
Pat_Riot@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 70d
David Bowie was a pretty good Muppet too
SharkWeek@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 13 pts · 70d
GraniteM@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 70d
Hoggle is my example of why most CGI characters in live-action movies are unnecessary. Hoggle is an incredible feat of puppetry combined with the performance of the actor inside the suit, and if that can be accomplished in 1986, then don't tell me that a practical character can't be done today.
L3-37 from Solo is a great example of how to merge practical with CGI. You get the actors real performance, the human actors on set get something real to interact with, and then CGI can fill in some of the gaps and do the things that physically can't be done in reality.
SharkWeek@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 70d
NABDad@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 70d
I love Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.
Aside from still being amazing for what they were able to do, it was also the test that established that they were able to make full length feature films.
CentipedeFarrier@piefed.social · 8 pts · 70d
I was a big fan of all the hidden shit in labrynth, the shots where you’d see one thing and they’d shift perspective to show you something else, like the rock face or the hidden passages. Thats still enthralling to me because they are very very good visual illusion effects.
The helping hands were also great. I wish they’d done a little bit more with those, maybe in other places, and not just the oubliette scene.
toiletobserver@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 70d
Martians impersonating Earth things
GraniteM@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 70d
It's simple and early, but I love this bit from the Ed Sullivan show back in 1967.
MuttMutt@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 70d
Mahna Mahna.
Makes me my other half crack up when she's got the giggles. Which reminds me i need to make a new ringtone and swap out the woodchuck song on her phone...
The Swedish Chef is another good one. There are stories about when they were filming and even the studio crew were trying not to make noise while laughing.
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe · 3 pts · 70d
There's several Mahna Mahna skits on YouTube (one with Sandra Bullock). They're all brilliantly funny (of course I'm a fan of the one from The Muppet Show).
Also, (I'm sure you know) Cake did a cover of the song around 2000 that's also excellent.
Notyou@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 70d
The OG 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. I think it still holds up. It's a great movie.
RBWells@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 70d
The pilot on Farscape, and the Martians on Sesame Street.
tunetardis@piefed.ca · 5 pts · 70d
I guess I'm old school, but I just love Kermit the Frog's range of facial expressions, especially when he's interacting with Miss Piggy.
AskewLord@piefed.social · 3 pts · 70d
dunno.
i like gonzo and fozzy. and rizzo, when he shows up.
yyyesss@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 69d
what the hell. i never watched farscape and was not expecting gory horror shit. add a warning, OP, shit. i didn't need that added to my nightmares.
FollyDolly@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 70d
That part in the Dark Crystal where they cast the Chamberlain out. Sooo many moving parts, a large area to cross, lots of interaction. I'm amazed they pulled it off. I wonder how many takes it took.
nymnympseudonym@piefed.social · 2 pts · 70d
Wilkins coffee
RedEyeFlightControl@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 68d
FarScape is amazing for a lot of reasons.
While not a special effect, I always loved the Muppet Show for its antics in particular. They did so much with practical effects, and they did it amazingly well.
Please enjoy one of my personal favorites, The Windmills of Your Mind.
I'm also going to nod at Peter Jackson's "Meet the Feebles" for being a methed out seedy underworld puppet variety show movie. The effects are super campy and cheap. It's spectacular low budget grade b nonsense that will make you go "what the fuck did i just watch?".
PlaidBaron@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 70d
Not sure if it counts but I love Bear from Bear in the Big Blue House. Just lots of creativity with some clear constraints.