Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Energy Hogs Commercial Full Version

This is a fun commercial that Animal Makers created and performed in cooperation with the Ad Council.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Latta commercial starring Jill de jong

Very interesting "behind the scenes" look at working with and performing a huge, fake whale!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Here's one of our clients using our scorpion as part of their logo.  The scorpion at Animal Makers can pose any way a designer wants.  In this case, Jim Boulden handled the stock photography of the model.

Top Search Here at Animal Makers

With over 2,000 animal models presented online, which animal model is the most searched for? This scorpion! This scorpion sculpture always places in the top ten of our searches! Who would know that this would so popular!

Wednesday, October 07, 2009


Check out the "Three Bears" in their newest video shot for ILVA Furniture.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009


Here's an image of the actor getting into this costume for the first time...The costume is still "fresh" and clean. We age it as the last step. The costumer is assuring a tight fit. No mask is visible under the gauze.

Mummies! Check out the deal we are offering on our one-of-a-kind, Mummy suit! We have only one, and it's for a slim person approximately 5'10" in height. The suit can be adjusted to fit other body styles.

Friday, September 04, 2009

BearCopenhagen_MG_8742


BearCopenhagen_MG_8742, originally uploaded by GatorMoto.

Here's the Animal Makers bears taking direction from Pierre Winther (M2 films of Denmark).

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

After struggling to keep the doors open, this prop house finally is closing it's doors. Many collectors will be happy to procure some of Hollywood's most amazing memories during the auction. One of our favorites is the lifesize submarine. There are currently approximately 100,000 individual items in the collection. The NY Times posted this story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/movies/18props.html Quoted from that story: “The closing of 20th Century is a disaster for us,” said Melinda Ritz, who won three Emmy Awards for her work on “Will & Grace.” She added, “The fabric of Hollywood is fraying so fast that it’s scary.”

The decline of scripted television plus the production migration to other locations was a double hit, then add in the strike authorization that was set up by SAG, were all factors that cause problems. Also, there had been a market for his amazing collection for parties and events, but the sour economy put a huge damper on those.

Harvey Schwartz, the owner, is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. We, here at Animal Makers, will sorely miss him.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Researchers, bidders, producers should be interested to know that they can find ONLINE PRICING for hundreds of props, effects, and rigs! This is a first in the field, and we are offering some incredible deals! Why reinvent the prop? Book one of these money savers, and put the difference in your pocket!
STORE: http://www.animalmakers.com

Monday, May 11, 2009

Here's another reason to leave live, exotic animals out of the rigors of entertainment (circus, movie making, television, live events). This is the story of what happened to a petting zoo owner in Florida. She was attacked by a camel that had just been purchased. The camel was a bull and in rut, so it was not controllable. The camel went on to be sold to someone else, without any notice of it's past. It was a lose-lose deal for everyone concerned, even the camel!

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Animal Makers just posted a few on-screen props used in the film, "Batman, The Dark Knight". These were seen in the amazing fight scenes shot in Chicago and London. Of the two props, one is heavy (like a real dog), and the other is lighter (so allow it to be attached to the Batman). Commissioned specially for the film. This art is created entirely of artificial materials. No animal was harmed during it's creation. Here's a LINK to see what's being offered.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009


Ever wonder how you train a walrus? Check out this commercial on YouTube that we shot in the Chilean Andes during 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyWoQo0ggkY It was performed with two different rigs. The first is a walrus suit and the second is an animatronic walrus. The first was for the wide shots in the snow, and the second is for the close up shots of the face animating. Both of these rigs are 100% of normal walrus scale size.

Mechanical Eyeballs


Mechanical Eyeballs, originally uploaded by GatorMoto.

EVer wonder what's under all that skin and shell? Here's an up close image of the animatronic design and construction of a talking character. In this case, it's a talking shark character. Originally built for Kelloggs for ad agency,Leo Burnett (Chicago). The final commercial can be seen at: http://www.animalmakers.com/videogallery/Kelloggs_sharks.php

Monday, April 27, 2009

Roland Emmerich books Animal Makers onto "2012". Click here to see the hippo, rhino, or bear suit that traveled up to Vancouver, BC. Three Animal Makers crew attended the rigs and suit. There were four stages operating for the disaster film, plus a giant water tank.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

CSI (Crime Scene Investigations) was back in the Animal Makers' studios during February 2009. This time it was for a eagle attack rig. This bird attacks something, and they needed to make that happen on camera. One of our best television clients! Thanks CSI!

"The Office" returns to Animal Makers once again for an artificial trout. At last minute, the propmaster for the series (Phil Shea) had to instruct that the insides needed to be just like they would be in a seafood window. No problem! Check out the before and after shots! Great to see Phil and his production crew back in the studio!

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Fiat dealers from all over South America came together near Recife, Brazil for three days. Fiat corporate booked the animatronic animals of Animal Makers to shoot a commercial for their Palio Adventure model, as well as entertain the dealers. Here's a video of those dealers' families posing with an animatronic lion and bear.
Thanks go out to the production team over at HBO's "True Blood". Nice folks, and a great propmaster, Steven Levine. Steven has been in the film biz since he was a kid. His father, Al, is well known to the Hollywood film-making community. Animal Makers built a bunny rabbit out of artificial materials. The bunny prop also has a hidden rig (click to see image). See the episode and let us know what you think. The scene will knock your slippers off!

jim@animalmakers.com

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Fake Animal Mummies:  Can you believe that realistic fake animals have been around for thousands of years?  In ancient Egypt, there were fake animal mummies created that were stored in the tombs.  Some of the Cat Mummies  that were made and presented to Bastet (a popular Goddess of the time) contained simple rags or possibly a bone.  Check out this site for more info on these ancient fakes!