Phil Tippett's Studio isn’t Shutting Down and the Legendary VFX Company Clarifies Its Future

Reports of Tippett Studio’s closure have been greatly exaggerated. After a rough weekend for fans of practical effects, stop-motion animation, and handcrafted movie magic, the legendary visual effects company has issued an official statement confirming that it’s not shutting down.

The confusion started when Berkeleyside reported that Oscar-winning visual effects artist Phil Tippett was closing the longtime Berkeley home of Tippett Studio. Considering Tippett’s history with Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Starship Troopers, and Mad God, the news understandably hit movie geeks hard.

Thankfully, there’s more to the story. The Berkeley facility really is closing, but Tippett Studio itself is continuing to operate. The company is changing how and where it works rather than calling it quits.

Tippett Studio addressed the situation in an official statement:

“We have recently decided to evolve our physical footprint and production approach, and to exit our longtime Berkeley facility. As we make this transition, Tippett Studio continues its visual effects and animation work across film, television and entertainment.

“Our operations in Canada also continue, including our Toronto studio, which is currently in active production on a large feature film.”

That’s a pretty important distinction. The Berkeley studio may be going away, but the artists at Tippett Studio are still creating visual effects and animation, with its Toronto operation currently working on a major feature film.

The company also clarified what the changes mean for its stop-motion work:

“Stop-motion remains an important part of our creative capabilities, but maintaining a large permanent physical footprint is no longer necessary for our current requirements.

“When projects require dedicated stages, fabrication, motion-control photography or other specialised physical infrastructure, we will work with appropriate external facilities to meet the needs of each production.”

So, stop-motion isn’t disappearing from Tippett Studio either. Instead of maintaining a massive permanent facility equipped for every possible production need, the company plans to use outside facilities when projects require specialized stages, fabrication, motion-control photography, or other physical production resources.

The statement concludes: “As we move forward, we remain focused on the work ahead, continuing to collaborate with our clients, creative partners and artists on current and upcoming productions.”

For movie and VFX fans, it’s good to get some clarification because Tippett Studio carries one hell of a legacy.

Tippett helped create some of the most memorable creatures and effects in movie history, including Jabba the Hutt and the Rancor Monster in Return of the Jedi, the Tauntauns and Wampa in The Empire Strikes Back, the Raptor and T-Rex stop-motion puppets developed for Jurassic Park, and ED-209 in RoboCop.

His groundbreaking visual effects work on Jurassic Park earned him an Academy Award in 1994, and his career has helped shape multiple generations of practical effects, stop-motion animation, and visual effects artists.

Closing the Berkeley facility still marks the end of a major chapter for Tippett Studio, and for a building connected to decades of incredible filmmaking history. But the important news here is that Tippett Studio isn’t going away.

The company is changing its production model, its visual effects and animation work continues, its Canadian operation remains active, and stop-motion is still part of its creative arsenal.

So, thankfully, we can put away the tiny stop-motion coffin. Tippett Studio is still alive and making movies.