Hal Hickel

Hal Hickel

CountryUnited States United States
GenderMale
Birthday
BiographyHal T. Hickel is a visual effects animator for Industrial Light & Magic.

At the age of 12, Hickel wrote a letter to Lucasfilm, outlining his ideas for a sequel to the original Star Wars movie (now known as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), and received a polite rejection letter from producer Gary Kurtz. The letter now hangs on the wall of Hickel's office at ILM. Twenty years later, Hickel found himself working on Star Wars after all, as a lead animator on Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

A native of Bailey, Colorado, Hickel joined the Film Graphics Program at CalArts in 1982. He worked at An-FX from 1982 until 1988, and then joined Will Vinton Studios, working in stop-motion and motion control.

Hickel began his animation career at Pixar in 1994, where he worked on Toy Story and the THX promos, as well as some of Pixar's short films. Hearing that a new Star Wars trilogy was in pre-production, Hickel applied for a transfer to ILM on the chance that he might get to work on the prequels. He was first assigned as an animator on The Lost World: Jurassic Park, but was eventually assigned to work on The Phantom Menace, and later its sequel, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, where he was responsible for the unique movement of the Droideka destroyer droids.

His other credits include: A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Space Cowboys, Dreamcatcher and Van Helsing. In 2007, Hickel won the BAFTA and the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects along with John Knoll, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall, for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. He also received an Academy Award nomination for his work on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Biography from the Wikipedia article Hal Hickel. Licensed under CC-BY-SA. Full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
True Detective
Running

True Detective

Touch darkness and darkness touches you back. True Detective centers on troubled cops and the investigations that drive them to the edge. Each season features a new cast and a new case.

True Detective is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. 

S.W.A.T.
Running

S.W.A.T.

Shemar Moore stars as a locally born and raised S.W.A.T. sergeant newly tasked to run a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles. Torn between loyalty to where he was raised and allegiance to his brothers in blue, former Marine Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson has everything it takes to be an excellent leader and bridge the divide between his two worlds.

The Equalizer
Running

The Equalizer

A reimagining of the classic series, The Equalizer centers on enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn.

Shōgun
Running

Shōgun

Shōgun, set in feudal Japan, charts the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai: John Blackthorne, a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him; Lord Toranaga, a shrewd, powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals; and Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties, who must prove her value and allegiance.

The Boys
Running

The Boys

In a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame, The Boys centres on a group of vigilantes known informally as "The Boys," who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.