Do you remember the movie, Mary Poppins, with its panoramic view of the London skyline at dusk, just as the lights began to twinkle far below? when the scene called for an imaginative way for the cast to traverse the twilight sky, a smoky staircase was created, extending to the roof of a cathedral. When a Roman temple was needed to set the stage for the epic film Spartacus, the cast and crew didn't have to head for Italy. And when Walt Disney wanted an idyllic setting for the movie Treasure Island, he declared "We don't need to go on location. Peter can make it look like an island." Who is this man who enables Julie Andrews to walk across the nighttime sky, built the cinematic equivalent of Rome in a day and created and island in the middle of California?
His is artist Peter Ellenshaw, considered one of the forerunners of special effects, having worked for 30 years as a matte artist at the Disney Studios. It was Peter Ellenshaw who developed what is known as the split-screen technique to film Darby O'Gill and the Little People, creating the effect of normal sized actors mingling with minuscule ones. A raging storm at sea was needed for the film Swiss Family Robinson, so Peter created one in miniature, using several outboard motors to produce churning waves. When a movie required a harbor filled with ships, a requirement precluded by its budget, it was Peter Ellenshaw who solved the problem, painting an assortment of schooners on a glass matte. The camera was positioned in front of the scene he painted on glass, and the result was movie magic of the Ellenshaw variety. When faced with a challenge, Peter's stock answer was, "No problem." He could create castles or spaceships with equal ease.
1934 *Storm in a Teacup, Assistant Matte Artist
1936 *Things to Come, Assistant Matte Artist
1936 *Rembrandt, Assistant Matte Artist
1936 *The Ghost Goes West, Assistant Matte Artist
1937 *Elephant Boy, Assistant Matte Artist
1937 *Fire Over England, Assistant Matte Artist
1937 *Victoria the Great, Assistant Matte Artist
1937 *The Man Who Could Work Miracles, Assistant Matte Artist
1937 *Sixty Glorious Years, Assistant Matte Artist
1938 *Drums Assistant Matte Artist
1939 *The Four Feathers, Assistant Matte Artist
1940 *Major Barbara, Assistant Matte Artist
1940 *The Thief of Bagdad, Assistant Matte Artist
1946 *A Matter of Life and Death, Assistant Matte Artist
1946 *An Ideal Husband, Assistant Matte Artist
1948 *Black Narcissus, Assistant Matte Artist
1950 Treasure Island, Matte Artist
1951 Quo Vadis, Matte Artist
1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower, Matte Artist
1952 The Story of Robin Hood, Matte Artist
1953 The Sword and the Rose, Matte Artist
1954 Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue, Matte Artist
1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Matte Artist
1955 Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, Matte Artist
1956 Westward Ho The Wagons!, Matte Artist
1956 The Great Locomotive Chase, Matte Artist
1956 Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, Matte Artist
1957 Johnny Tremain, Production Designer
1957 Old Yeller, Matte Artist
1958 The Light in the Forest, Matte Artist
1958 Tonka, Matte Artist
1959 Darby OGill and the Little People, Special Photographic Effects
1959 Third Man on the Mountain, Matte Artist
1960 Spartacus, Matte Artist
1960 Toby Tyler, Matte Artist
1960 Kidnapped, Special Photographic Effects
1960 Pollyanna, Matte Artist
1960 Swiss Family Robinson, Matte Artist
1960 The Sign of Zorro, Matte Artist
1961 The Absent-Minded Professor, Matte Artist
1962 In Search of the Castaways, Special Effects Supervisor
1963 Summer Magic, Special Photographic Effects
1964 Mary Poppins***, Special Effects
1966 Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., Special Effects
1966 The Fighting Prince of Donegal, Special Photographic Effects
1967 Monkeys, Go Home, Matte Effects
1967 The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin, Matte Artist
1967 The Gnome-Mobile, Matte Artist
1967 The Happiest Millionaire, Special Effects
1968 Blackbeards Ghost, Matte Artist
1969 The Love Bug, Special Photographic Effects
1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks**, Art Direction
1974 The Island at the Top of the World, Production Designer
1979 The Black Hole**, Production Designer and Director of Special Effects
1987 Superman IV, Supervising Matte Artist
*
Films as Assistant Matte Artist to W. Percy Day, O.B.E.
** Academy Award
Nomination
*** Academy Award
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