How American Werewolf in London Created the Oscars’ Best Makeup Category

An American Werewolf in London modified so much about horror motion pictures when it got here out. The film was considered one of the most profitable werewolf motion pictures made in years. It impressed followers and critics alike due to its sensible results, with director John Landis and results maestro Rick Baker creating the werewolf transition with precise make-up and digicam transitions.

The sensible results made An American Werewolf in London the first film to win the Oscar for Best Makeup at the 54th Annual Academy Awards. While which means that the werewolf film went down in historical past as the purpose the class exists, it was not the solely film that performed into the creation of the make-up honors.

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American Werewolf in London Wasn’t the First Film To Win an Oscar for Makeup

Many years earlier than An American Werewolf in London arrived, the Academy Awards honored motion pictures for make-up results. The first two notable motion pictures have been the 1964 film 7 Faces of Dr. Lao and the 1968 launch Planet of the Apes. These honors have been Special Achievement Oscars. 7 Faces of Dr. Lao was a fantasy film based mostly on the novel by Charles G. Finney a few Chinese showman who makes use of magical powers to avoid wasting a Western city. The film noticed Tony Randall play a number of roles, together with that of the Abominable Snowman, Medusa, a Giant Serpent, and extra. The film showcased the make-up work by William Tuttle.

Planet of the Apes is a film that required John Chambers’ meticulous make-up work, as he created the apes that dominated that society. On high of the Special Achievement Oscar for make-up, the film additionally picked up a nomination for Best Costume Design. While it seemed like the extraordinarily profitable Planet of the Apes proved the Oscars wanted a make-up class, it took 13 years earlier than that occurred. While some followers of Landis’ werewolf masterpiece may level out that it created the addition of the class, that is not essentially true. The Academy will not create a class for a film launched that 12 months. However, it might create a class based mostly on motion pictures that ended up harm by the omission of the class the 12 months earlier than. When Beauty and the Beast picked up a Best Picture nomination, the Oscars created a Best Animated Feature class, nevertheless it was too late for the Disney traditional. The creation of the Best Makeup class wasn’t due to An American Werewolf in London however due to a film that missed out the 12 months earlier than.

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The Elephant Man Helped Usher in the Best Makeup Oscar

The 12 months earlier than John Landis created his werewolf film, there was a drama characteristic that ought to have received the greatest Makeup award at the Oscars if it had existed. This film was The Elephant Man. David Lynch directed the true-life story of John Merrick, a person born in London who lived a lot of his life in a Victorian freak present earlier than receiving assist and nearly escaping that life. It is a tragedy, however the make-up work by Christopher Tucker carried out on John Hurt to remodel him into Merrick was exemplary. The Elephant Man acquired eight Oscar nominations, together with Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Costume Design, nevertheless it did not win any. The one award it ought to have received was Best Makeup, and whereas the Oscars refused a Special Achievement Oscar for the film, it agreed to create a brand new class for the subsequent 12 months’s ceremony.

While An American Werewolf in London was not chargeable for the class’s creation, Rick Baker earned the award and owed this new success to Elephant Man. After successful for his werewolf results, Baker set the document for the most Best Makeup Oscar wins in historical past with seven wins out of 11 nominations. On high of An American Werewolf, Baker additionally received for Harry and the Hendersons, Ed Wood, The Nutty Professor, Men in Black, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Wolfman. However, the man chargeable for the modifications, Christopher Tucker, by no means received an Oscar. He took dwelling a BAFTA for his make-up work on Quest for Fire in 1985, however Elephant Man was the closest he got here to the Oscar dialog.

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