FX Legend Rick Baker to Retire

On the eve of a massive Prop Store auction selling the personal collection of makeup FX legend Rick Baker, the artist has announced his plans to largely retire.

“First of all, the CG stuff definitely took away the animatronics part of what I do. It’s also starting to take away the makeup part. The time is right, I am 64 years old, and the business is crazy right now. I like to do things right, and they wanted cheap and fast. That is not what I want to do, so I just decided it is basically time to get out. I would consider designing and consulting on something, but I don’t think I will have a huge working studio anymore.”

That’s what Baker, the man behind iconic and landmark work in An American Werewolf in London (for which he won the first Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling) and Michael Jackson’s Thriller, had to tell 89.3 KPCC about his decision to take it easy after an influential, impactful career. Baker notes his artistic pursuits, including painting, sculpting and yes, monster making (much of which she shares on Twitter and YouTube) will now be on his own time and terms.

His reasoning here is perhaps sad, if not surprising. The dominance of VFX and CG in the Hollywood landscape is clear and has overtaken Baker’s work to poor results before, most notably in 2010’s The Wolfman when Baker’s transformation effects were cut in favor of digital. Meanwhile, Studio ADI’s team recently had to crowdfund to get an original and mostly practical monster movie off the ground. Still, Baker’s work is a triumph of the form. He’s crafted pure movie magic and influenced countless artists who pursue makeup FX even if they’re presently undervalued by Hollywood horror. 

From American Werewolf (still the greatest werewolf transformation, plus Jack, plus the nightmare Nazis) to Videodrome to Harry and the Hendersons to Gorillas in the Mist to Planet of the Apes (2001) and the Men in Black films, Rick Baker is incomparable.

Thanks, Mr. Baker.

Below, find just come of the collection being auctioned at Prop Store. It’s a marvel.