Marcel Delgado (January 16, 1901, in

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

– November 26, 1976, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

) was a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and model-maker. His technique revolutionized the

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

. He is best known for his work on the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Prior to Delgado, stop motion models where typically made from

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

, which was difficult to adjust between shots. Delgado built a skeleton for his models. This skeleton was made from Dural and it was then filled in with foam rubber or cotton cloth and covered with latex to serve as skin, giving his models a more natural and realistic look, while simultaneously making it easier to handle them. Sometimes he also incorporated an inflatable bladder that helped him simulate breathing.

Early life

Delgado's family moved to

in 1910, running away from the Mexican Revolution. He first started sculpting at age 6. As his family was very poor, Delgado worked most of the time, leaving school behind. He did not learn English until he was 17, a fact that more often than not made his getting a job difficult. In 1921 he split his time working in a convenience store and taking art lessons at the Otis Art Institute (now called

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aero ...

), where he also got a part-time job to pay for his lessons.

Career

While he worked in the Institute he met

Willis O'Brien Willis Harold O'Brien (March 2, 1886 – November 8, 1962), known as Obie O'Brien, was an American motion picture special effects and stop-motion animation pioneer, who according to ASIFA-Hollywood "was responsible for some of the best-known im ...

, who worked in special effects for movies in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. O'Brien was a specialist in building miniature creatures and sets as well as in stop-motion animation. Impressed by Delgado's work, he tried to lure him away to work with him on several occasions, offering four times more than the salary Delgado was making at the time. The answer was always the same, "I don't wanna work in the movies. I want to be an artist". When O'Brien was about to tackle the biggest challenge in his career, ''The Lost World'', he decided to make one last attempt to gain the services of the young Mexican sculptor. He invited him to spend a day in the First National studio where he was working. He walked Delgado through the whole place and then took him to the workshop where he did all the miniatures' work. "Welcome to your studio", he said, and eventually that became true. Delgado accepted the offer to work with O'Brien just to be able to work in such a place. Years later Delgado said the work area "was a clean, vast and organized place with cameras, lights, and all kind of materials. It was any artist's dream". Delgado and O'Brien worked together for many years and soon became one of the most respected special effects crews in

. Their most famous and groundbreaking collaboration was the original ''King Kong'', released in 1933. They refined these techniques in 1949's '' Mighty Joe Young'', which garnered an Academy Award for special effects (awarded to O'Brien). Delgado retired in 1965 and died on November 26, 1976, in

, California.

Films

O'Brien and Delgado's first work together was in ''The Lost World'', but they became famous a few years later with ''King Kong'' (1933). Kong's success was followed by a failed sequel, '' Son of Kong''. They also worked on movies like ''The Last Days of Pompeii'' (1935) and others. * '' The Perils of Pauline'' (1967) - gorilla costume creator (uncredited) * ''

Fantastic Voyage ''Fantastic Voyage'' is a 1966 American science fiction adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby. The film is about a submarine crew who is shrunk to microsco ...

'' (1966) - miniatures (uncredited) * ''

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

'' (1964) - special effects props (uncredited) * ''

Dinosaurus! ''Dinosaurus!'' is a 1960 science fiction film directed by Irvin Yeaworth and produced by Jack H. Harris. Plot The film is about an American engineering team led by Bart (Ward Ramsey) building a harbor on a Caribbean island when they accident ...

'' (1960) - dinosaur model constructor (uncredited) * ''

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' () is a science fiction adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne. It is considered a classic within its genres and world literature. It was originally serialised from March 1869 to June 1870 i ...

'' (1954) - miniatures (uncredited) * ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...

'' (1953) - miniatures (uncredited) * '' Mighty Joe Young'' (1949) - technical staff * ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' (1939) - miniatures (uncredited) * ''

The Last Days of Pompeii ''The Last Days of Pompeii'' is a novel written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. The novel was inspired by the painting '' The Last Day of Pompeii'' by the Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan. It culminates in ...

'' (1935) - miniatures (uncredited) * '' Son of Kong'' (1933) - technical staff (as Marcell Delgado) * ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'' (1933) - technical staff, model maker (uncredited), technician (uncredited)Animation Magazine - "VFX & Animation Iconcs React: Original 'King Kong' Returns to Theaters"
/ref> * '' The Most Dangerous Game'' (1932) - special props (uncredited) * '' Creation'' (1931 short) - miniatures * '' The Lost World'' (1925) - associate technical director, associate researcher, model construction (uncredited)

References

External links

Monsters 411- ''Kong and Beyond''''NY Times''- Filmography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Delgado, Marcel Visual effects artists 1901 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Mexican sculptors Mexican emigrants to the United States