Talks

Animating Star Wars: Creatures, Characters, and Vehicles in a Universe Far, Far Away

Lightning In a Bottle: Capturing the Magic of Davy Jones

Hal Hickel joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1996 as an animator for The Lost World: Jurassic Park. On his next production, he was promoted to lead animator and given responsibility for the animation of several characters in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. In 2000, Hickel was moved up to Animation Supervisor, teaming up with multi-Academy Award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren on Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence. His special interest in animation lies in the challenge of integrating fantastic characters and creatures into live-action films. Hickel has since supervised the animation work on Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Iron Man, and the first three films in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. In 2007, his work on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was recognized with both an Academy Award® for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Effects and the BAFTA for Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

Hickel was the Animation Supervisor on Guillermo del Toro’s sci-fi epic, Pacific Rim, for which he received his fifth BAFTA nomination and a Visual Effects Society Nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects. Prior to that, he was the Animation Director on ILM’s first animated feature, Rango, which received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. In 2016, Hickel took on the task of animating the epic battle between orcs and humans in Warcraft. He served as Animation Supervisor in a galaxy far, far away for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which earned him Oscar, BAFTA, and VES award nominations for visual effects.

More recently, he supervised animation in the train heist sequence in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and is now Animation Supervisor on Lucasfilm’s first live-action Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian.

Originally from Portland, Oregon, Hickel studied Film Graphics at California Institute of the Arts before being hired by Will Vinton Studios as a clay animator and motion control operator for commercials and television specials featuring the California Raisins, among other characters. Hickel left Vinton in 1994 to join Pixar as an animator on their first animated feature, Toy Story. Upon completing Toy Story, Hickel was hired at ILM.

ILM Credits

• 2023 - AHSOKA – Animation Supervisor
• 2023 - THE MANDALORIAN SEASON THREE – Animation Supervisor
• 2020 - THE MANDALORIAN SEASON TWO – Animation Supervisor
• 2019 - THE MANDALORIAN SEASON ONE – Animation Supervisor
  • Emmy Award – Outstanding Special Visual Effects – Episode 2 “The Child”
• 2018 - SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY – Animation Supervisor (Train Heist sequence)
• 2016 - ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY – Animation Supervisor
  • Academy Award Nomination – Best Visual Effects
  • British Academy Award Nomination – Best Special Visual Effects
  • Visual Effects Society Nomination – Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
• 2016 - WARCRAFT - Animation Supervisor
• 2013 - PACIFIC RIM – Animation Supervisor
  • British Academy Award Nomination – Special Visual Effects
  • Visual Effects Society Nomination – Outstanding Visual Effects
• 2011 - SUPER 8 – Creature Animation Supervisor
• 2011 - RANGO – Animation Director
  • Academy Award – Best Animated Feature
• 2008 - IRON MAN – Animation Supervisor
  • British Academy Award Nomination – Special Visual Effects
• 2007 - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END – Animation Supervisor
  • Academy Award Nomination – Best Achievement in Visual Effects
  • British Academy Award Nomination – Special Visual Effects
• 2006 - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST – Animation Supervisor
  • Academy Award – Best Achievement in Visual Effects
  • British Academy Award – Special Visual Effects
• 2003 - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL – Animation Supervisor
  • Academy Award Nomination – Best Achievement in Visual Effects
  • British Academy Award Nomination – Special Visual Effects
• 2003 - DREAMCATCHER – Animation Supervisor
• 2002 - STAR WARS: EPISODE II “The Attack of the Clones” – Animation Supervisor
• 2001 - A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – Animation Supervisor
• 2000 - SPACE COWBOYS – Animator
• 1999 - STAR WARS: EPISODE I “The Phantom Menace” - Lead Animator
• 1997 - THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK – Animator

Previous Credits

• 1995 - TOY STORY – Animator