The ILM artist recounts animating a ‘Star Wars’ shot at Tippett Studio’s now-closed Berkeley facility, while detailing the movie’s redesigned creatures and practical effects, and a tribute to Miyazaki’s ‘My Neighbor Totoro’
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Hal Hickel, 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' presentation, View Conference, Oct. 14, 2026. Credit: Davide Abbatescianni Industrial Light & Magic animation supervisor Hal Hickel approached Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu” with a deceptively simple question: “What would Phil do?”
The Phil in question was stop-motion pioneer Phil Tippett, whose work on the original “Star Wars” trilogy provided a template for everything from lumbering AT-AT walkers to a spectacular battle involving two giant droids animated by hand.
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