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Wikipedia / Tippett Studio

Tippett Studio was an American visual effects and computer animation company specializing in computer graphics (CGI) for films and television commercials. The studio created visual effects and animations on over fifty feature films and commercials, garnering an Academy Award, four Clio Awards and two Emmy Awards. The company had offices located in Berkeley, California.

History

Tippett Studio was founded in a garage in 1984 by Phil Tippett and Jules Roman, Phil's wife and the president of the company, before moving into a 6,200-square-foot warehouse. The studio began as a stop-motion animation company (by means of its particular stop-motion animation variant, the so-called go-motion animation technique). It also designed and built live-action props for films, such as RoboCop, RoboCop 2, RoboCop 3, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Ghost. In 1991, the studio shifted its focus to computer-generated imagery to work on Jurassic Park, (released in 1993, with Industrial Light & Magic) by developing the Digital Input Device (DID). The DID was a new effects technology which placed computer-linked sensors into the moving joints of three-dimensional, articulated character models. This system earned Craig Hayes a Scientific and Technical Achievement Academy Award and the work on Jurassic Park earned the studio an Academy Award. Creature animation work for Coneheads (also released in 1993) was the final go-motion puppet project done by the company.

The studio also worked on Blockbuster commercials featuring Ray and Carl, a guinea pig and rabbit at a pet store window from 2002 to 2007 during the Super Bowl.

Paul Verhoeven's 1997 film Starship Troopers became at the time Tippett Studio's biggest project, with over 500 visual effects shots, for which the company received another Academy Award nomination. Phil Tippett co-directed the large-scale battle sequences with Verhoeven. The studio doubled in size to digitally animate and composite hundreds of creature shots for the film.

Early in 2000, the studio re-teamed with Paul Verhoeven on Hollow Man. Craig Hayes co-supervised the creation of the invisible Sebastian whose outline becomes visible in steam, rain, water, and even blood. The outstanding visual effects were recognized with another Academy Award nomination.

In March 2024, Tippett Studio was acquired by Indian-based studio PhantomFX. On May 1, 2024, Tippett Studio filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In August, 2026, Tippett Studio sold off their stock of models and memorabilia as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. At the end of the month, Tippett shut down the studio, ending its 40 year operation.

Motion picture filmography

Awards and nominations

Film

Commercials

  • 2002: Blockbuster Video, Carl & Ray: Kung Fu – Clio Award, Gold – Computer Animation

  • 2002: Blockbuster Video, Carl & Ray: Gotta Dance – Clio Award, Bronze – Computer Animation

  • 2002: Blockbuster Video, Carl & Ray: Prima Donna – Clio Award, Bronze – Computer Animation

  • 2002: Blockbuster Video, Carl & Ray: Kung Fu – Clio Award, Bronze – Visual Effects

References