He is one of the unsung heroes of movie-making, receiving seven Oscars and dozens of other nominations. He has worked on the likes of An American Werewolf in London, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, The Rocketeer, Gremlins 2, Men in Black, Ed Wood, and the Planet of the Apes remake, and now Rick Baker is to retire.
He spoke to 89.3 KPCC about his news.
[quote_box_center]First of all, the CG stuff definitely took away the animatronics part of what I do. It’s also starting to take away the makeup part. The time is right, I am 64 years old, and the business is crazy right now. I like to do things right, and they wanted cheap and fast. That is not what I want to do, so I just decided it is basically time to get out. I would consider designing and consulting on something, but I don’t think I will have a huge working studio anymore.[/quote_box_center]
This news is gutting. Let’s remind ourselves of some other work that Rick has brought us over the years.
The werewolf transformation scene in An American Werewolf in London is legendary.
Then there’s his work on the second Gremlins movie. Here’s Rick taking a reporter around his studio showing off his many puppets from Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
Finally, here’s Rick talking about his earlier career.
It’s a shame that things have moved on in this way, but at 64 and following such a glittering career in the industry, we can understand why the great man is stepping down. He hasn’t said that he’s leaving the film industry entirely, so we’ll hopefully see something from him in the future, in some form.
