Saturday, February 01, 2014

Behind the Scenes: The Rocketeer

I'm a sucker for films set in the 1930s-era, and The Rocketeer  is an old favorite. Disney totally blew it by not giving this franchise a chance to succeed and piled on the error by releasing both the DVD and Blu-Ray editions with no special features that show how the filmmakers brought the story to life.

I went looking for anything that might give some insight into this great film and uncovered a few tidbits.

The first is the page of Michael John Cummins, who did effects work on the Nazi zeppelin used in the film. He provided a few behind-the-scenes shots of the model.

Next up is a segment showing the stop-motion work done on the film from YouTube. It appears to be from a TV show (hosted by Christopher Reeve) and it is from the scene in the film featuring a Ford Tri-Motor airplane - one of my favorite planes.

Finally, a 'making of..." show made to promote the film, titled Rocketeer: Excitement is in the Air. While only part of this show is focused on the effects, there are some interesting bits.





Rocketeer Nazi Zeppelin

Rocketeer Stop Motion Props - Behind the Scenes

Rocketeer: Excitement In The Air



3 comments:

Michael Bozek said...

I just stubled upon your fantastic blog. I really love the subject and look forward to future posts! The Rocketeer is a film that never clicked for me (yeah, yeah...I know) but the effect work has an undeniable charm to it.

Sean J Vincent said...

HI... do you know how i can get in touch with a UK based model builder for film? I need a quote for SCi-Fi film spaceship build. My email is psyco.sean@gmail.com

Jason R said...

I don't have any contacts with model builders, unfortunately. Asking around on an effects forum might be a good place to start.