Hal T. Hickel is a visual effects animator for Industrial Light & Magic. At the age of 12, Hickel wrote a letter to Lucasfilm, outlining his ideas for a sequel to the original ''Star Wars'' movie (now known as '' Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope''), and received a polite rejection letter from producer

Gary Kurtz Gary Douglas Kurtz (July 27, 1940 – September 23, 2018) was an American film producer whose list of credits includes ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Star Wars'' (1977), ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ''Retu ...

. The letter now hangs on the wall of Hickel's office at ILM. Twenty years later, Hickel found himself working on ''Star Wars'' after all, as a lead animator on '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace''. A native of

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, Hickel joined the Film Graphics Program at

CalArts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

in 1982. He worked at An-FX from 1982 until 1988, and then joined

Will Vinton Studios William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his work ...

, working in stop-motion and

motion control Motion control is a sub-field of automation, encompassing the systems or sub-systems involved in moving parts of machines in a controlled manner. Motion control systems are extensively used in a variety of fields for automation purposes, includi ...

. Hickel began his animation career at

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

in 1994, where he worked on ''

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'' and the

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promos, as well as some of Pixar's short films. Hearing that a new ''Star Wars'' trilogy was in pre-production, Hickel applied for a transfer to ILM on the chance that he might get to work on the prequels. He was first assigned as an animator on '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'', but was eventually assigned to work on ''The Phantom Menace'', and later its sequel, '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'', where he was responsible for the unique movement of the Droideka destroyer droids. His other credits include: ''

A.I. Artificial Intelligence ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' (also known as ''A.I.'') is a 2001 American science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg. The screenplay by Spielberg and screen story by Ian Watson were based on the 1969 short story "Supertoys Last All ...

'', ''

Space Cowboys ''Space Cowboys'' is a 2000 American adventure drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood. It stars Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner as four older "ex-test pilots" who are sent into space to repair an old ...

'', ''

Dreamcatcher In some Native American and First Nations cultures, a dreamcatcher ( oj, asabikeshiinh, the inanimate form of the word for 'spider') is a handmade willow hoop, on which is woven a net or web. It may also be decorated with sacred items such as ...

'' and ''

Van Helsing A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

''. In 2007, Hickel won the BAFTA and the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects along with

John Knoll John Knoll (born October 6, 1962) is an American visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer (CCO) at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). One of the original creators of Adobe Photoshop (along with his brother, Thomas Knoll), he has also ...

, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall, for '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest''. He also received an Academy Award nomination for his work on '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story''.

References

External links

*
Rolling Out Droids - An Interview with Hal Hickel
Starwars.com, May 12, 2000.

''

ZDNet ZDNET is a business technology news website owned and operated by Red Ventures. The brand was founded on April 1, 1991, as a general interest technology portal from Ziff Davis and evolved into an enterprise IT-focused online publication. His ...

'', January 25, 2007. American animators Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners Living people Primetime Emmy Award winners Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Special effects people Stop motion animators {{US-animator-stub