Mad Dreams and Monsters : The Art of Phil Tippett Book Review

Posted By yonghow on September 19th, 2023

Mad Dreams and Monsters: The Art of Phil Tippett and Tippett Studio is a massive tome of a book celebrating the illustrious career of the legendary stop-motion and vfx ( visual effects ) supervisor, with a long list of impressive credits for films like the original Starwars trilogy, Dragonheart, Robocop, Jurassic Park, Starship Troopers and many more.

Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet, the documentarians behind Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan, present Mad Dreams and Monsters, a spectacular and comprehensive authorized retrospective of Oscar-winning visual effects master Phil Tippett, founder and namesake of iconic Tippett Studio.

With Foreword by director Paul Verhoeven and Oscar-winning visual effects artist Dennis Muren / Preface by Phil Tippett.

From Star Wars to Jurassic Park and RoboCop to Starship Troopers, special effects master Phil Tippett has brought his magic to some of the most iconic films of all time. His unparalleled career in visual effects spans more than 40 years, with two Academy Awards, one BAFTA, and two Emmys. This stunning book, published in a beautiful slipcase, celebrates Tippett’s career, from early Super 8 explorations through his groundbreaking work with Industrial Light & Magic, DreamWorks, and beyond. While Tippett’s first love remains the stop-motion animation that made him a Hollywood legend, he was present at the birth of big-screen digital effects, and his genius has evolved with the times. In 1984, he founded Tippett Studio, which has come to specialize in digital effects.

Packed with over a thousand behind-the-scenes photographs and housed in a beautifully designed slipcase, Mad Dreams and Monsters includes never-before-published stories from the master himself and a veritable who’s who of visual effects luminaries—a must-have for movie fans, film students, and anyone who’s ever been captivated by movie magic.

This is treasure trove of a book for fans of stop-motion and VFX, and even anyone who only has a cursory interest in filmmaking will find this volume an interesting read. I’m not sure why the book is so heavily discounted on Amazon.com ( at the time of writing this review ), but it is literally a steal at only $39 ( originally $175 ) and a serious bang for your buck. Very, very highly recommended.

Mad Dreams and Monsters: The Art of Phil Tippett and Tippett Studio details :

– Dimensions – 12.45 x 3.25 x 17.45 inches
– hardcover with plastic slipcase, 528 pages
– Full color