By its very definition, breaking a glass ceiling isn’t something that can be done easily. When it comes to cinema, you can pinpoint creative decisions that forever changed the movie industry – even if they don’t feel like a big deal now. One of these changes is highlighted by the documentary Jurassic Punk, which brings digital animator and supervisor Steve “Spaz” Williams front and center to talk about how he single-handedly led a revolution in terms of storytelling. He was responsible for bringing to life some iconic characters, including the dinosaurs of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park.
Simply championing the use of CGI characters in one of Spielberg’s most acclaimed movies would be enough to define the biography of a person, but as the exclusive new trailer for Jurassic Punk shows, Williams also advocated for other industry-defining special effects in movies like Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Abyss. These works paved the way for the development and growth of one of the biggest and most important animation companies in the world: Industrial Light & Magic.
Jurassic Punk Reveals that Steve Williams Forever Changed CGI History
But that’s not all: the Jurassic Punk trailer justifies its title by showing that Williams’ brilliant mind matched his wild personality. In the same way that he fought for quality special effects – way before computers were even considered as a means to compose cornerstone elements of a story – the animator lived a life of reckless and unapologetic behavior that might have thrown him to the sidelines, to the point where his contribution to cinema didn't get fully acknowledged by his peers. His talent was praised only two times in major awards circuits: When he was nominated for his visual effects work in 1994’s The Mask at the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs.
Jurassic Punk and Jurassic Park's Legacies Are Interconnected
For fans of Cinema, Jurassic Punk is a must-watch. It is common knowledge that the special effects of Jurassic Park – namely, its many dinosaurs – still hold up to this very day, almost 30 years after the movie was released. This excellence was rewarded by History: Jurassic Park grossed over $900 million worldwide, and sat on the throne for highest-grossing movie ever made for four years (the crown was taken by 1997’s Titanic). The movie was also, of course, awarded the Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects.
Jurassic Punk is directed by Scott Leberecht, who’s also a long-time visual effects director who worked on movies like Flubber and Sleepy Hollow. Jurassic Punk is the follow-up to his feature-length directing debut Midnight Son. The documentary had early screenings at this year’s SXSW festival and Newport Beach Film Festival, and it was mostly praised by critics.
Jurassic Punk premieres in theaters and on VOD/Digital on December 16. You can watch the trailer below:
Check out the official synopsis below:
Steve Williams is a little-known pioneer in computer animation. This intimate account chronicles his life story and events surrounding the historical moment when his digital dinosaurs walked onto the silver screen in ‘Jurassic Park.’ Steve and a chorus of expert witnesses recount a dramatic tale of rebellion and revolution at Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic in the early 1990s– a time when creating realistic creatures with a computer was considered impossible. Though Williams’ groundbreaking work transformed Hollywood, his appetite for anarchy and reckless disregard for authority may have cost him the recognition he deserved.