Greg (January 23, 1939 – October 31, 2024) and Tim Hildebrandt (January 23, 1939 – June 11, 2006), known as the Brothers Hildebrandt, were American twin brothers who worked collaboratively as

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

artists for many years, produced illustrations for comic books, movie posters, children's books, posters, novels, calendars, advertisements, and trading cards.

Career

Born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt studied at the Meinzinger Art School, and began painting professionally in 1959 as the Brothers Hildebrandt. The brothers both held an ambition to work as animators for

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

, and although they never realized this dream, their work was heavily influenced by illustration style of Disney feature films such as ''

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'', ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'' and ''

Fantasia Fantasia may refer to: Film and television * ''Fantasia'' (1940 film), an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney ** '' Fantasia 2000'', a sequel to the 1940 film * ''Fantasia'' (2004 film), a Hong Kong comedy film * ''Fantasia'' (201 ...

''. They were also influenced by the artwork in

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

s and

books, notably the work of

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

and

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. His works featured distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. The ...

. The brothers are best known for their popular ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' calendar illustrations, illustrating

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

and

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, original oil paintings for a limited edition of Terry Brooks's ''

The Sword of Shannara ''The Sword of Shannara'' is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the first book in a titular trilogy. The novel interweaves two major plots into a fictional world called The Four Lands. One follows the protagonist ...

'', and their '' Magic: The Gathering'' and ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' illustrations for

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

. In 1977 the brothers were approached by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

to produce poster art for the UK release of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

''. A promotional poster had already been produced in the US by the artist

Tom Jung Thomas Jung is an American Art director#In advertising, art director, graphic designer, illustrator, and storyboard artist.The Star Wars Poster Book, Stephen J. Sansweet, Chronicle Books (October 13, 2005)The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive ...

, but Fox executives considered this poster "too dark". The Brothers Hildebrandt had established a reputation working on the ''Lord of the Rings'' calendar and a concept poster for ''

Young Frankenstein ''Young Frankenstein'' is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. The screenplay was co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Wilder also starred in the lead role as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Victor Fra ...

'', and Fox commissioned them to rework the image. The twins had to work to a very tight deadline, and worked together in shifts to produce a finished product in 36 hours. Their version of the poster, referred to as ''Style "B"'', was distributed to be used on British cinema

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s for the UK release, and became possibly their best known work. Using the same layout as Jung's ''Style "A"'' poster, it depicts the character of

Luke Skywalker Luke Skywalker is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was introduced in the original film trilogy as the main protagonist and also appears in the sequel trilogy. Raised as a poor moisture farmer on the desert planet Tat ...

standing in a heroic pose brandishing a shining

lightsaber A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout ''Star Wars''. A typical lightsaber is shown as a luminous laser sword about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the original ''Star Wars'' ...

above his head, with

Princess Leia Princess Leia Organa ( or ) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Introduced in the Star Wars (film), original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is a princess of the planet Alderaan, a member of the Galactic Empire (Star Wars ...

standing below him, and a large, ghostly image of

Darth Vader Darth Vader () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as the primary antagonist and one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. He has become one of the most iconic villain ...

's helmet looming behind them. The central figures are surrounded by smaller depictions of other characters and a montage of starfighters in combat amid a sea of stars. Both Jung and the Hildebrandts had worked on their posters without reference to photographs of the actual cast, and Fox and

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...

later decided that they wanted to promote the new film with a less

stylized In the visual arts, style is a "...distinctive manner which permits the grouping of works into related categories" or "...any distinctive, and therefore recognizable, way in which an act is performed or an artifact made or ought to be performed a ...

and more realistic depiction of the lead characters. Producer

Gary Kurtz Gary Douglas Kurtz (July 27, 1940 – September 23, 2018) was an American film producer whose list of credits includes ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Star Wars'' (1977), ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ''Ret ...

commissioned the film poster artist

Tom Chantrell Thomas William Chantrell (20 December 1916 – 15 July 2001) was a British illustrator and cinema poster artist. Born the son of a circus performer in Manchester, England, he started work in advertising as an illustrator. During WWII he put hi ...

to paint a new version from

film still A film still (sometimes called a publicity still or a production still) is a photograph, taken on or off the set of a Film, movie or television program during Film production, production. These photographs are also taken in formal studio settings ...

s and

publicity photo A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause and which is distributed to members of the Mass media, ...

s. ''Star Wars'' opened in British theatres on December 27, 1977, and the Hildebrandts' poster continued to be used until late January 1978, when it was replaced by Chantrell's ''Style "C"'' poster. Despite their strong associations with the works of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

, the brothers were not given a role in the production of

Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (; born October 29, 1938) is a Mandatory Palestine-born American retired animator and filmmaker, known for his fantastical animated films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent anim ...

's animated version of ''

'' (1978), which was a source of disappointment for them. In 1981, the Hildebrandts had another film poster commission, for the

Greek mythological Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient ...

heroic fantasy Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of ...

film '' Clash of the Titans''. Together, the brothers developed a concept for a fantasy movie, ''Urshurak''; although this never went into production, the Hildebrandts collaborated with author Jerry Nichols to publish ''Urshurak'' in the form of an illustrated fantasy novel in 1979. The lack of success with ''Urshurak'' may have contributed to their decision to work independently of each other, and in 1981 the brothers began to pursue separate careers. Greg painted cover artwork for the magazines '' Omni'' and '' Heavy Metal'', and illustrated a number of books including Mary Stewart's ''Merlin Trilogy'', ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...

'', ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'', ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

'', ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'', and ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

''. Tim also created cover art for books such as '' The Time of the Transference'' and '' The Byworlder'', as well as for ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' magazine, along with illustrated

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

s based on fantasy themes such as ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

''. After 12 years the Brothers reunited to collaborate on work for

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

, and numerous book projects. Greg Hildebrandt Jr. also made major contributions to the production of a book entitled ''Greg & Tim Hildebrandt: The Tolkien Years'', which gave an overview of the Tolkien genre artworks produced by Greg and Tim in the 1970s. Brothers Hildebrandt artwork for ''Lord of the Rings'' is featured in the '' Magic: The Gathering'' collectible trading card game as borderless cards.

Greg's solo work and family

Individually, Greg contributed to the art for the

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill (producer), Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-pr ...

's albums and concert merchandise. He also provided the cover art for

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

's 1981 '' Mob Rules'' album. He started his American Beauties

pinup A pin-up model is a model (person), model whose mass-produced pictures and photographs have wide appeal within the popular culture of a society. Pin-up models are usually glamour photography, glamour, actresses, or fashion models whose pictures ...

art in 1999. In 2019, it was announced that Greg would provide cover art for a new series of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' comics, ''Star Trek: Year Five'', from

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

. This was the first time that Greg had worked on the ''Star Trek'' franchise. During the 1980s and 1990s Greg illustrated a number of classic books. These range from ''Greg Hildebrandt's Favorite Fairy Tales'', ''Alice in Wonderland'', ''Peter Cottontail's Surprise'', ''Peter Pan'' and ''Robin Hood'' to ''Dracula'', ''Poe: Stories and Poems'' and ''The Phantom of the Opera''. During this time Greg also illustrated the holiday books ''Christmas Treasury'' and ''Treasures of Chanukah''. In April 2022, Greg was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to

Operation USA Operation USA (also known as OpUSA, Operation California, or OpCal) is a non-profit humanitarian organization supporting health, education, and relief programs at home and abroad. The Organization is privately funded, receiving no assistance ...

's benefit anthology book ''Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds'', a project spearheaded by editor

Scott Dunbier Scott Dunbier is an American comic book editor, best known as the Special Projects Editor at IDW Publishing. Career Dunbier rose to prominence in the comic book industry as executive editor of the Wildstorm comic book line. After several years ...

whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Greg, who joined the project in its second week, explained his reasons for contributing thus: "Neither Jean nor I ever expected to live long enough to see Russia attack any country simply out of greed. The savagery we have witnessed in these past weeks is beyond anything we can fathom. Our hearts break for the people of Ukraine. The loss of life is stunning. The monstrously evil insanity of Putin's War is equal to the Turks attempt to exterminate the Armenians in WWI and Hitler's attempt to exterminate the Jews in WWII. Any project that I can lend my art to that will thwart Putin is a project I will join with all my heart, soul and mind." Greg married his first wife, Diana F. Stankowski, in 1963. Diana assisted in his art projects and was the model for Princess Leia on the ''Star Wars'' movie poster. They had two daughters and a son. In 1991 Greg began living with longtime colleague Jean Scrocco. The couple married in 2009. Greg died on October 31, 2024, at the age of 85.

Tim's solo work and family

Tim Hildebrandt illustrated children's books, two ''

'' calendars, and the poster for the 1982 film ''

The Secret of NIMH ''The Secret of NIMH'' is a 1982 American animated Fantasy film, fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien (author), Robert C. O'Brien's children's novel, ''Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N ...

''; his art was also used in advertising by

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

and

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. ( ) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( ) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...

. Tim was associate producer of the 1983 horror-themed science fiction film '' The Deadly Spawn'', filmed in Tim and Rita's Victorian home in Gladstone. Tim married Rita Murray, who went on to design and create the costumes for the ''Lord of the Rings'' works. Together they had a son. Tim Hildebrandt died on June 11, 2006, at the age of 67, due to complications of diabetes.

Awards

Tim won the 1992

World Fantasy Award for Best Artist The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

. Both were awarded the

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at Comic-Con Internati ...

in 1995. In 2010 Greg Hildebrandt received the

Chesley Award The Chesley Awards are the "pinnacle award" for art in the science fiction and fantasy genre. Established in 1985 by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, the awards recognize individual artistic works and achievements during a g ...

for Lifetime Artistic Achievement from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists. Together, the brothers were awarded the Gold Medal by the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators (SoI) is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. Since absorbing the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (M ...

Legacy

Terrence Brown, Director of the

, describe the brothers as "more than a footnote in the history of American illustration. heyare the long chapter ... hey are amongthe roots of popular culture."

References

Sources

Lambiek Comiclopedia profiles

External links

Spider Web Art Gallery
(Greg Hildebrandt) * – with links to Greg and Tim * (some as Gregg or Gregory)
Tim Hildebrandt
at LC Authorities, with 36 records
Works by or about Tim Hildebrandt
in libraries (WorldCat) * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hildebrandt, Brothers 1939 births American album-cover and concert-poster artists American comics artists American fantasy artists American illustrators American role-playing game artists American science fiction artists American twins Artists from Detroit Brother duos Film poster artists Inkpot Award winners Tolkien artists World Fantasy Award–winning artists

Career

Greg's solo work and family

Tim's solo work and family

Awards

Legacy

See also

References

Sources

External links