Robert A. Mattey

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Robert A. "Bob" Mattey (born June 27, 1910 in New Jersey , United States , † January 14, 1993 in Los Angeles , United States) was an American special effects artist .

Live and act

Robert A. Mattey junior came across cinematography as a 17-year-old when he was still in the silent film era when he visited his father Robert Mattey senior on the set of the monumental Bible film King of Kings : old Mattey, a jeweler , was commissioned to produce this film to make false "ancient" coins. Since then, Mattey Junior had developed an interest in the movie beast. Bob Mattey began a few years later - the sound film had now established itself - to work in all kinds of assistant positions for the film companies RKO and Universal Studios and was also involved in adventure classics such as King Kong and the white woman and Tarzan's retaliation in this subordinate position . In the following years, Bob Mattey created all sorts of dummies (werewolves, carnivorous plants and the like) for his superiors, which were mainly used in genre-specific film productions.

When film architect Harper Goff, who worked for Walt Disney's company, marveled at the gigantic (and mechanically controlled) octopus that Mattey had created for the John Wayne film In the Bane of the Red Witch in 1948 , he brought Mattey to Disney and asked him to design it in 1953 of the giant squid , which played a crucial role in the Jules Verne film adaptation 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Kirk Douglas , because there were problems with the technology (the drive). The film was so successful that Disney immediately hired Mattey. Mattey was initially not used for films at all; rather, he was supposed to oversee the design of all kinds of animals for the Disneyland amusement park, which is to be opened soon . Mattey drew the templates for hippos, elephants and other African wild animals for the "Jungle Cruise" attraction and populated the "Rivers of America" ​​area with deer, elk and bears. Even rocks and mud bath bubbles were designed by Mattey (for the “Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland”). In addition, he created for "Fantasyland" a. a. the figure of Timothy Mouse and the local Dumbo, the flying elephant.

For many years, Robert A. Mattey was very busy designing Disney's leisure facilities; He only returned to film at the beginning of the 1960s, when Disney had him design the special effects for real-life adaptations such as The Flying Pauker (for which Mattey received an Oscar nomination) and Mary Poppins . These films were extremely successful, as was the classic Volkswagen film A Great Beetle, which was made after Disney's death . After leaving Disney, especially Matteys special effects impressed Steven Spielberg's mega-hit Jaws . Bob Mattey was also involved in the sequel Jaws 2 ; it would be his last film activity. Robert Mattey was remembered primarily as "Walt's wonderful magician of mechanical effects".

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical
personal data
SURNAME Mattey, Robert A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mattey, Bob (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American special effects artist
DATE OF BIRTH June 27, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH New Jersey , United States
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1993
Place of death Los Angeles , United States