Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, known as the Brothers Hildebrandt (born January 23, 1939), are American

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

brothers who worked collaboratively as

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

artists for many years. They produced illustrations for comic books, movie posters, children's books, posters, novels, calendars, advertisements, and trading cards. Tim Hildebrandt died on June 11, 2006.

Career

Born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt began painting professionally in 1959 as the Brothers Hildebrandt. The brothers both held an ambition to work as animators for

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, and although they never realized this dream, their work was heavily influenced by illustration style of Disney feature films such as ''

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...

'', ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'' and ''

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

''. They were also influenced by the artwork in

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s and

books, notably the work of

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

and

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His ...

. The brothers are best known for their popular ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'' calendar illustrations, illustrating

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

and

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, original oil paintings for a limited edition of Terry Brooks's '' The Sword of Shannara'', and their '' Magic: The Gathering'' and ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' illustrations for Wizards of the Coast. In 1977 the brothers were approached by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

to produce poster art for the UK release of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

''. A promotional poster had already been produced in the US by the artist

Tom Jung Thomas Jung is an American Art director#In advertising, art director, graphic designer, illustrator, and storyboard artist.The Star Wars Poster Book, Stephen J. Sansweet, Chronicle Books (October 13, 2005)The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive ...

, but Fox executives considered this poster "too dark". The Brothers Hildebrandt had established a reputation working on the ''Lord of the Rings'' calendar and a concept poster for ''

Young Frankenstein ''Young Frankenstein'' is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. The screenplay was co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Wilder also starred in the lead role as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor F ...

'', and Fox commissioned them to rework the image. The twins had to work to a very tight deadline, and worked together in shifts to produce a finished product in 36 hours. Their version of the poster, referred to as ''Style ‘B’'', was distributed to be used on British cinema

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s for the UK release, and became possibly their best known work. Using the same layout as Jung's ''Style ‘A’'' poster, it depicts the character of Luke Skywalker standing in a heroic pose brandishing a shining

lightsaber A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent plasma blade about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the or ...

above his head, with

Princess Leia Princess Leia Organa is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, portrayed in films by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in the Star Wars (film), original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is princess of th ...

standing below him, and a large, ghostly image of Darth Vader's helmet looming behind them. The central figures are surrounded by smaller depictions of other characters and a montage of starfighters in combat amid a sea of stars. Both Jung and the Hildebrandts had worked on their posters without reference to photographs of the actual cast, and Fox and

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

later decided that they wanted to promote the new film with a less

stylized In the visual arts, style is a "...distinctive manner which permits the grouping of works into related categories" or "...any distinctive, and therefore recognizable, way in which an act is performed or an artifact made or ought to be performed a ...

and more realistic depiction of the lead characters. Producer Gary Kurtz commissioned the film poster artist Tom Chantrell to paint a new version from

film still A film still (sometimes called a publicity still or a production still) is a photograph, taken on or off the set of a movie or television program during production. These photographs are also taken in formal studio settings and venues of opportun ...

s and

publicity photo In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization (company, charity, etc.). It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) ...

s. ''Star Wars'' opened in British theatres on December 27, 1977, and the Hildebrandts' poster continued to be used until late January 1978, when it was replaced by Chantrell's ''Style ‘C’'' poster. Despite their strong associations with the works of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

, the brothers were not given a role in the production of Ralph Bakshi's animated version of ''

'' (1978), which was a source of disappointment for them. In 1981, the Hildebrandts had another film poster commission, for the Greek mythological heroic fantasy film '' Clash of the Titans''. Together, the brothers developed a concept for a fantasy movie ''Urshurak''; although this never went into production, the Hildebrandts collaborated with author

Jerry Nichols Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian film ...

to publish ''Urshurak'' in the form of an illustrated fantasy novel in 1979. The lack of success with ''Urshurak'' may have contributed to their decision to work independently of each other, and in 1981 the brothers began to pursue separate careers. Greg painted cover artwork for the magazines '' Omni'' and '' Heavy Metal'', and illustrated a number of books including Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy, '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'', '' Robin Hood'', ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'', and '' The Phantom of the Opera''. Tim also created cover art for books such as ''

The Time of the Transference ''Time of the Transference'' (1986) is a fantasy novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book follows the continuing adventures of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather who is transported from our world into a land of talking animals and magic. It ...

'', and '' The Byworlder'', as well as for '' Amazing Stories'' magazine, along with illustrated

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

s based on fantasy themes such as '' Dungeons & Dragons''. After 12 years the Brothers reunited to collaborate on work for

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

, and numerous book projects. Greg Hildebrandt, Jr. also made major contributions to the production of a book entitled ''Greg & Tim Hildebrandt: The Tolkien Years'', which gave an overview of the Tolkien genre artworks produced by Greg and Tim in the 1970s.

Greg's solo work and family

Individually, Greg contributed to the art for the

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to ...

's albums and concert merchandise. He also provided the cover art for

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

's '' Mob Rules'' album. He started his American Beauties pinup art in 1999. In 2019, it was announced that Greg would provide cover art for a new series of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' comics, ''Star Trek: Year Five'', from

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

. This was the first time that Greg had worked on the ''Star Trek'' franchise. During the 1980s and 1990s Greg illustrated a number of classic books. These range from ''Greg Hildebrandt's Favorite Fairy Tales'', ''Alice in Wonderland'', ''Peter Cottontail's Surprise'', ''Peter Pan'' and ''Robin Hood'' to ''Dracula'', ''Poe: Stories and Poems'' and ''The Phantom of the Opera''. During this time Greg also illustrated the holiday books ''Christmas Treasury'' and ''Treasures of Chanukah''. In April 2022, Greg was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to

Operation USA Operation USA (also known as OpUSA, Operation California, or OpCal) is a non profit humanitarian organization supporting health, education and relief programs at home and abroad in order to help children and families recover and thrive in the wak ...

's benefit anthology book, ''Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds'', a project spearheaded by editor Scott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. Greg, who joined the project in its second week, explained his reasons for contributing thus: "Neither Jean nor I ever expected to live long enough to see Russia attack any country simply out of greed. The savagery we have witnessed in these past weeks is beyond anything we can fathom. Our hearts break for the people of Ukraine. The loss of life is stunning. The monstrously evil insanity of Putin’s War is equal to the Turks attempt to exterminate the Armenians in WWI and Hitler's attempt to exterminate the Jews in WWII. Any project that I can lend my art to that will thwart Putin is a project I will join with all my heart, soul and mind." Greg married his first wife Diana F. Stankowski in 1963. Diana assisted in his art projects and was the model for Princess Leia on the ''Star Wars'' movie poster. They had two daughters and a son. In 1991 Greg began living with longtime colleague Jean Scrocco. The couple married in 2009.

Tim's solo work and family

Tim Hildebrandt illustrated children's books, two '' Dungeons & Dragons'' calendars, and the poster for the film '' The Secret of NIMH''; his art was also used in advertising by

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

and

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

. Tim was Associate Producer of the horror-themed science fiction film, '' The Deadly Spawn'', filmed in Tim and Rita's Victorian home in Gladstone. Tim married Rita Murray, who went on to design and create the costumes for the ''Lord of the Rings'' works. Together they had a son. Tim Hildebrandt died on June 11, 2006 at the age of 67 due to complications of diabetes.

Awards

Tim won the 1992

World Fantasy Award for Best Artist In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. In 2010 Greg Hildebrandt received the

Chesley Award The Chesley Awards were established in 1985 by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists to recognize individual artistic works and achievements during a given year. The Chesleys were initially called the ASFA Awards, but were later re ...

for Lifetime Artistic Achievement from the

Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists The Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, ASFA, is a non-profit, educational association, whose membership is made up of amateur and professional artists, art directors, art show managers, publishers and collectors involved in the vis ...

. Together, the brothers were awarded the Gold Medal by the Society of Illustrators.

References

Other sources
Lambiek Comiclopedia profiles

External links