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A stop-motion Martian puppet from the production of Tim Burton's sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks! Based on the Topps trading card series, the film saw Martian invaders terrorising humanity as they sought to conquer Earth.
Burton's initial idea was to use stop-motion animation for the Martians' scenes, and several detailed puppets of the aliens were constructed by model makers Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders. However, it quickly became apparent that stop-motion was too complex a technique, causing the movie's budget to escalate. Eventually, Burton was convinced to use CGI animation created by ILM instead. The puppets were ultimately scanned and used as primary references for ILM's animators.
This puppet consists of a metal armature covered in foam-latex skin airbrushed in shades of green and brown, with plastic eyes. Handwritten in black ink on the underside of its left foot is the number "14". Dimensions: 39 cm x 18 cm x 7.5 cm (15.5" x 7" x 3")
Estimate: £6,000 - 12,000 M
View all lots from MARS ATTACKS! (1996)