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R2-D2 Creator Grant McCune Dead At 67
CBC reports on sad news for Star Wars fans: "Grant McCune, a special effects artist who earned an Oscar for his work on the 1977 film Star Wars, has died. He was 67. McCune died Monday at his home in Hidden Hills, Calif., of pancreatic cancer. McCune created scenes with miniatures, models and special effects for dozens of movies, including Spaceballs, Ghostbusters II and 2008's Rambo. He began in special effects in 1975 when he and friend Bill Shourt were hired to make a giant white shark model for Steven Spielberg's Jaws. They got no credit for the film, but McCune caught the eye of the film community and he became chief model maker for Star Wars, where he created R2-D2 and many of the creatures that populate the film."
Don't beat yourself up. One can love a work without knowing its artist(s).
I hated the CGI R2 in the prequals. CGI is good for some things but it can't fully re-create a remote controlled robot with real world physics etc., it just looked wrong, too clean too perfect and the motion seemed too 'cartoony' - I've yet to see a real robot that can move like the CGI R2 did.
Long live real R2 droids.