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Here’s what Shrek was originally supposed to look like.
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And here’s some test footage using an early Shrek design that’s actually low-key disturbing.
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One of my favorite behind-the-scenes photos of all time is this picture of Bella/Kristen Stewart patting Jacob/Taylor Lautner in his “wolf” form from the set of the Twilight films.
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And watching these “dinosaurs” creep around on the set of Jurassic World was the weirdest thing I saw today.
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The original design for Voldemort (on the back of Quirrell’s head) in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is genuinely terrifying. It’s probably for the best they swapped this out, considering it’s a kid’s movie.
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Did you know that the Michael Myers mask from Halloween was made from a mask of Captain Kirk from Star Trek (aka William Shatner)? They painted and modified it to make it creepier.
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They also considered using an Emmett Kelly mask like this one or a Spock Mask. A mask of former president Richard Nixon mask was also apparently considered.
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I always think it’s cool to see stop-motion characters outside of the film they were in; it feels so strange to see something in real life that appears animated on film.
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Check the original suit from Alien — it’s almost as scary even outside the film.
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This VHS that labels Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope simply Star Wars (since it wasn’t yet part of a series) is also super cool to see.
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Chuck Jones’ rules for Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner shorts are weirdly wholesome, and, IMO, the reason why they always work.
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Seeing the very first versions of Kermit the Frog and Friends feels like reading the ancient texts.
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As does seeing this original 1955 sketch of Kermit.
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As someone who grew up loving any and all adaptations of Winnie the Pooh, I also find it a little mind-blowing to see what the original toys that inspired the characters looked like.
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Tigger’s animated design used to be super different.
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These old versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Clarabelle Cow, and Pluto look slightly different than the characters we know and love.
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Here’s Marge Champion, who modeled for Snow White’s dancing and movement in the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. You can watch the way the animators copied her movement here.
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Disney often used live-action models for their early films. They would then trace over the footage — usually not exactly, but using the live-action as a model — to create the animation. This is called rotoscoping. Here, you can see an example from Alice in Wonderland.
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Behind-the-scenes Star Wars photos always fascinate me due to the wildly impressive prosthetics, models, and practical effects. Here’s a photo of George Lucas working on the famous “Who shot first?” scene with Greedo and Han Solo.
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Seeing Yoda moved by a puppeteer in the Star Wars prequels is also very cool.
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The prequels also employed some pretty cool miniatures — here, you can see the stadium for the pod-racing scene.
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Also, did you know that in faraway shots, the spectators were literally just painted Q-tips?
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Lord of the Rings also used a bunch of miniatures — here’s the famous bridge scene in Khazad-dûm. It was filmed with a few set pieces for close-ups and otherwise almost entirely used miniatures (with VFX making them more realistic).
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Here’s a GIF of the crew moving the miniature version of the Balrog and Gandalf on the bridge.
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This isn’t a behind-the-scenes photo, per se, but the obituary of The Simpsons creator’s mother reveals exactly where the inspiration came from. His mother’s name was Margaret, his father’s name was Homer, and Lisa and Maggie were two of his sisters. Also, his grandparents’ last name was Wiggum… like Ralph and Chief Wiggum.
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Seeing this still of Ahmed Best as Jar Jar in Star Wars makes me a little sad, considering his terrible fan treatment. Can we take a moment to appreciate how cool it was that instead of just entirely animating Jar Jar, they used Best’s real movement, which was wildly distinctive? I mean, Best was basically doing mo-cap before it was cool.
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Speaking of mo-cap, Benedict Cumberbatch doing the motion capture for Smaug in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug makes me a little uncomfy, tbh.
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As does this kind of silly photo from Beauty and the Beast.
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We can’t talk about motion capture without mentioning Andy Serkis, who masterfully used the tech to play Gollum in Lord of the Rings.
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TIL that the original light sabers in Star Wars were made out of the Graflex handle from a 1940s press camera, like the one below.
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I also learned South Park’s pilot episode was animated using construction paper cutouts of the characters. You can check them out here.
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There is something so funny about this picture of a very serious Anthony Mackie having his feet held up on the set of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But hey, you do what you must to make Hollywood magic, right?
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It’s also a little funny to see Sean Gunn doing mo-cap for Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy…but also cool! Technology has come so far.
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Obviously, Robbie Coltrane from Harry Potter wasn’t really a half-giant, but it’s still weird to see him next to other normal-sized people (and a model of his character).
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It’s also funny to see the actor for Grawp inside the costume…with a completely normal-sized head.
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The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe loses just a little bit of magic when we see that these creatures are just men in green tights.
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Same with Doc Oc in Spider-Man 2, with people in blue controlling his arms. Still, that’s Hollywood, folks!
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And finally, this isn’t for any specific movie, but this photo of the MGM logo being filmed genuinely blew my mind.
