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Concept artwork for the costumes worn across time by Hill Valley residents hand-drawn by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) visual effects art director John Bell during early pre-production on Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future Part II. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) jumped from the 1980s to the 1950s and into the dystopian 2010s to stop Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) from changing the future.

This artwork depicting three styles of costume design - one each from 1956, 1986, and 2016 - originates from the collection of renowned effects maestro Bell, who designed the 2015 hoverboards for the film and other key effects elements. In 1986, Bell was hired to produce concept artwork - including this piece labeled "generic casual wear for 47-year-old men of the indicated time period," a reference to the 47-year-old versions of Marty and Biff in the film - years before the film went into full pre-production. Bell ultimately received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Visual Effects for his work.

The artwork is rendered, dated "6.86," signed, and annotated with notes regarding the costumes in mixed media by Bell on a board-backed paper cut-out. It exhibits folding to its corners. Dimensions: 35.75 cm x 21.75 cm (14" x 8.5")

Sold without copyright; see notice in the Terms and Conditions.

Estimate: £1,000 - 2,000 Ω


Effects maestro John Bell's first major credit was as a storyboard artist for Industrial Light and Magic on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home in 1986. Within two years, Bell had become ILM's effects art director, a role for which he designed and illustrated props, sets, and sequences for an outsized number of classic films. For Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future Part II, he designed the 2015 hoverboards flown by Marty McFly and Biff Tannen, earning him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Effects in 1990. He would follow that achievement with a string of acclaimed projects, including as art director for Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park franchise, production illustrator for A.I. Artificial Intelligence, storyboard artist for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Best Picture nominee The Revenant, and visual development consultant for George Lucas' Strange Magic, among several dozen other credits. In honor of John Bell's continued work on behalf of global cinema, Propstore is proud to offer select memorabilia from this legendary craftsman's personal collection to the public for the first time.


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