Star Wars Conceptual Artist Ralph McQuarrie Dies at 82

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Star Wars Conceptual Artist Ralph McQuarrie Dies at 82

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday March 4, 2012 @07:21AM from the may-the-force-be-with-you dept.

First time accepted submitter puddingebola writes "Ralph McQuarrie, the conceptual designer that created the look of characters such as Darth Vader, Chewbacca and R2-D2, and helped design sets and scenes for George Lucas has passed away at 82. From the article: 'The success of his Star Wars paintings launched a late feature film career for McQuarrie that included helping design such classics as Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial, Back to the Future, Cocoon, Total Recall, and the original TV series Battlestar Galactica.'"

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Here's to you! by Nyder · 2012-03-04 07:25 · Score: 4, Insightful

I dedicate this bowl of weed to the great designs you drew and kept me entertained for so many years!
Here's to you!

--
Be seeing you...
1. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 07:46 · Score: 0
  
  And this brick of hash!
2. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 08:05 · Score: 0
  
  and this brownie!
3. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 08:13 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  Wonderful. Praise from a drug addict.
4. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 08:22 · Score: 1
  
  And my axe!
5. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 08:22 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  Says the conservative, anti-marijuana Christian who has been refilling his Oxycontin and Percocet prescriptions ever since having stubbed his toe 4 years ago.
  GTFO, Hillbilly heroin junkie.
  -- Ethanol-fueled
6. Re:Here's to you! by Ginger+Unicorn · 2012-03-04 08:49 · Score: 0
  
  we don't wanna mess with no reefer addicts!
  
  --
  (1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
7. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 09:02 · Score: 0
  
  Not conservative, not religious, not American and I don't use drugs of any kind, but nice try. Actually, it's quite telling of your own nasty habits that you would even assume those things.
  Enjoy your lung cancer, memory loss and incessant ennui. :)
8. Re:Here's to you! by EdIII · 2012-03-04 09:06 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  So what should he have said?
  This beers for you? Props for my homies while spilling out malt liquor? Dedicated his next toxic cigarette?
  You can be physically addicted to both alcohol and cigarettes. No so with marijauna.
  Of course... there is also the fact that alcohol and cigarettes kill vastly more people each year and are a tremendous burden on the economy with health care costs.... but you keep right at it with the baseless denigration of the poster simply because of his preference on how he relaxes and achieves an altered state.
  There is no difference between the raising a glass of wine/beer and toasting this man, and raising a bowl to do the same. The sentiment is the same.
9. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 09:40 · Score: 0
  
  Wonderful. Praise from a drug addict.
  FYI most of the old designers and artists are/were stoners. I never touch the stuff myself but I know Ron Cobb was a stoner back in the day, I'm not sure about McQuarrie. The famous example was all the drug imagery in Fantasia. The dancing mushrooms were there for a reason. I know of few designers that don't have a drug of choice and if you include alcohol and cigarettes I think the number comes out at zero.
10. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 10:14 · Score: 1
  
  You stupid fuck. Despite being a "drug," weed is FARRRR less immediately damaging to him and those around him than alcohol will ever be.
  If he smokes a bit much, he'll be happy and possibly very hungry. If he were to drink a bit much, he could get into a fight and/or drive home drunk and potentially kill someone.
  Guess which is worse? Oh, I forgot, you drink so it's okay for everyone else to do so.
  Goddamn. I don't do either, yet I STILL see the fallacy in this whole anti-weed b.s.
11. Re:Here's to you! by causality · 2012-03-04 11:42 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  And a stoner who models their life after "Cheech & Chong" is mature? I'm sorry, but if you need mind altering substances to bring value to your life, then you must have a pretty horrid life.
  I don't believe it is proper to model one's life after any stereotype or Hollywood image. I'd rather be an individual and so would anyone else who truly understands what this means. That this model in particular bothers you is irrelevant to me. To me, they are all equally abhorrent and phony when viewed as anything more than entertainment.
  
  The hinge of your statement is "need". Mind altering substances can also be appreciated. I would say that if you need to use a Web site to bring value to your life, that's also a horrid life. Yet, someone can use and enjoy a Web site without making it the center of one's existence. You could say that about hobbies, movies, relationships, anything really; for all of those things there is an unhealthy way of being too attached to them and giving them undue importance. We call the the unhealthy ones fanboys, zealots, and codependents. We call the healthy ones people who enjoy their free time.
  
  To treat drugs as anything unusual or special is your particular hang-up. The inability to recognize it as such that prompts you to blame others for not living as you do is a character flaw and an area in which you are emotionally immature. It is the difference between someone who simply does not belong to a religion but honors the freedom of those who do, versus someone who hates all religious people and would love to shut down every church. You merely found a form of bigotry that is less likely to be challenged than hating people of faith, people of color, people of a particular gender, etc.
  
  --
  It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
12. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 12:05 · Score: 1
  
  Angry AC is angry and probably a stoner and is overlooking the obvious. If you get stoned, you can drive home and potentially kill someone. Dunno about the US, but in New Zealand you can now be arrested for driving while under the influence of most drugs.
13. Re:Here's to you! by hairyfeet · 2012-03-04 15:03 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah it hasn't been a good couple of days as we lost Ronnie Montrose too, total bummer. Star Wars and Montrose, two things that helped to make the 70s a blast.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
14. Re:Here's to you! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 16:47 · Score: 0
  
  You stupid fuck. Despite being a "drug," weed is FARRRR less immediately damaging to him and those around him than alcohol will ever be.
  If he smokes a bit much, he'll be happy and possibly very hungry. If he were to drink a bit much, he could get into a fight and/or drive home drunk and potentially kill someone.
  Guess which is worse? Oh, I forgot, you drink so it's okay for everyone else to do so.
  Goddamn. I don't do either, yet I STILL see the fallacy in this whole anti-weed b.s.
  And here is one of the major issues with weed, people don't realise how much it screws up your ability to handle a 2 tonne vehicle travelling at 50 mph. We all know how bad alcohol is for your reaction times due to it being bombarded onto us 24/7 but not many realise that weed does the same or worse.
15. Re:Here's to you! by JeanCroix · 2012-03-05 05:35 · Score: 1
  
  Indeed. Gentlemen, get on your bad landspeeder and ride...
16. Re:Here's to you! by DaVince21 · 2012-03-05 08:25 · Score: 1
  
  Look, I love you for all the things you say. But I smell troll. So it's better if you just leave it alone, too.
  It's extremely difficult to convince people who are so sure of themselves, even if that what they're so sure about doesn't hold water.
  
  --
  I am not devoid of humor.
17. Re:Here's to you! by causality · 2012-03-06 07:39 · Score: 1
  
  Look, I love you for all the things you say. But I smell troll. So it's better if you just leave it alone, too.
  It's extremely difficult to convince people who are so sure of themselves, even if that what they're so sure about doesn't hold water.
  I appreciate what you're saying. If that AC were the only one who could have seen what I wrote, I wouldn't have bothered. It would unfortunately be little more than pearls before swine, though I hold out the hope that when he decides he's better than swine he'll remember that someone spoke to him as an equal and appreciate the grace he was shown.
  
  Troll or no, my hope is that an explanation coming from a spiritual place of what is and isn't a wholesome way to relate to anyone or anything would have had value to someone. If a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool troll gives me cause to provide that, then I would say the situation is redeemed no matter what he intended. I like that because then his bullshit intentions are solely his own problem, as they should be.
  
  --
  It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
18. Re:Here's to you! by causality · 2012-03-06 07:51 · Score: 1
  
  blame others for not living as you do is a character flaw and an area in which you are emotionally immature
  Yet here you are doing the same thing.
  If you wish to see it that way, then you shall. There are none so blind as those who will not see...
  
  --
  It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
19. Re:Here's to you! by Forty+Two+Tenfold · 2012-03-06 23:46 · Score: 1
  
  Enjoy your lung cancer,
  Huh? Quite the contrary?
  
  memory loss
  Huh? Not really.
  
  incessant ennui.
  Huh? From weed? You see, you don't KNOW anything about "drugs". BTW do you drink alcohol ("hard" drug)?
  
  --
  Upward mobility is a slippery slope - the higher you climb the more you show your ass.
20. Re:Here's to you! by Forty+Two+Tenfold · 2012-03-06 23:48 · Score: 1
  
  The physical addiction of nicotine is actually not the reason why smokers have such a difficult time quitting, it's the mental addiction.
  BULLSHIT.
  
  --
  Upward mobility is a slippery slope - the higher you climb the more you show your ass.
Re:Lack of Gamemaker? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 07:30 · Score: 0

Woosh! But hey at least you got some anti-Apple digging in, thats worth some Slashdot geek points isn't it. If you wish hard enough, one day you may even be able to talk to girls!
Why God why!? by WiiVault · 2012-03-04 07:30 · Score: 2, Insightful

Couldn't it have been George. Cruel I know, but so is what he does seemingly for a living now- destroying my childhood and that of millions of other fans in the search for his ego. Queue the karma bonfire.
1. Re:Why God why!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 07:38 · Score: 0
  
  http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115323-George-Lucas-is-Retiring-From-Film
  Maybe we can finally see what he is really capable of instead of milking SW for all its worth...
2. Re:Why God why!? by nomadic · 2012-03-04 08:02 · Score: 1
  
  Unless he invents a time machine I think your childhood is safe.
3. Re:Why God why!? by CohibaVancouver · 2012-03-04 10:23 · Score: 2
  
  destroying my childhood
  "Destroying your childhood?" WFT? Look, I was ten years old when "Star Wars" came out. I saw it every Saturday matinee in the theatre for 13 weeks. I bought all the comics and had the toys. As far I was concerned it was the greatest thing ever. Then, later on, Lucas mucked with it. Did it 'destroy my childhood?' Not even close. My childhood is attached to watching all those showings with my buddies, maybe with a bucket of popcorn - Lucas can't ever destroy that.
4. Re:Why God why!? by WiiVault · 2012-03-04 11:45 · Score: 1
  
  I used the term in it's figurative sense. It's an expression, but rooted in my real frustration with Lucas. Not every common expression means exactly what the words specifically suggest; and this is one of those cases. Perhaps I should have said Lucas damaged the fantasy that was the "universe" in Star Wars through his never-ending manipulation. I forgive and usually openly accept "directors cuts" like the first Special Edition, I bought them and enjoyed them. Heck maybe that was his original vision (which he stated at the time), I mean new tech in CGI did allow stuff in 1997 he could have dreamed-up in the 70's but never created during the original filming. However the further alterations on Blu-ray which use no new technology (NOOOOOOO!!!) or methods just bother me and make me question the value of his earlier "adjustments". The new Indy film, and his continued weakness in his self-professed passion-film Red Tails, and the participation in the current convert-to3D fad all concrete his inability to innovate outside the GCI/FX enhancement realm. Further they suggest what many critics have suggested, that he doesn't value art at all, and would rather keep stringing fans along. I would argue that his largest crime to moviemaking is his obsession with constant "newness" has created the Micheal Bay period of film we are currently stuck in. Looking at movies like THX 1138 and American Graffiti shows a filmmaker who had huge potential early on, but lost to his affliction with the new shiny and need to expand his fortune at the expense of his integrity. Pardon the cliche, but he has become the darkside of today's American cinema.
5. Re:Why God why!? by KlomDark · 2012-03-04 20:49 · Score: 1
  
  Hell no! He's still gotta make the originally-promised episodes 7 thru 9.
  And he needs to hurry it up, he's getting old.
  I've wanted to see Episodes 7-9 far more than I ever wanted to see eps 1-3. What happens NEXT, not what happened before. (Tho I did want to see the story of the Clone Wars, but he severely botched that compared to my mental vision. Never thought it would be as lame as just hundreds of clones of Jango Fett. I imagined it more as where every warrior had a few clones, and they did the actual fighting rather than the clonee.)
6. Re:Why God why!? by techybod · 2012-03-05 03:05 · Score: 1
  
  http://www.reghardware.com/2012/01/18/george_lucas_calls_quits_on_blockbuster_career/ He has stated no more new Star wars movies , so dont hold your breath....
  
  --
  "Friends help you move, Real Friends help you move bodies"
7. Re:Why God why!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-05 03:37 · Score: 0
  
  SeropuGrow up.
8. Re:Why God why!? by Vastad · 2012-03-05 08:22 · Score: 1
  
  I am OK with this as long as Lucas doesn't write ANY of it. If they could somehow merge the Zahn Trilogy and Dark Horse's first Expanded Universe comic Dark Empire into a credible 9-hour long 3 feature film set, I would be a very happy man.
  But it's not going to happen.
Go easy 'bro... by interval1066 · 2012-03-04 07:33 · Score: 3

"He's heading for that small moon..." ...in th sky. Go easy, 'bro. Loved your work.

--
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
puff puff by ganjadude · 2012-03-04 07:35 · Score: 1

pass

--
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Great! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 07:38 · Score: 0

I guess this will give Lucas yet another reason for a re-re-release?
Ralph conceived first! by Culture20 · 2012-03-04 07:49 · Score: 2

Chewie on that, Lucas!
Wow, **everyone** get's a +1 Insightful by hey! · 2012-03-04 08:30 · Score: 2

From the article linked to above:

"Why would I make any more," Lucas stated about continuing with his popular sci-fi universe, "when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?"

--
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
1. Re:Wow, **everyone** get's a +1 Insightful by WiiVault · 2012-03-04 08:48 · Score: 1
  
  That's the point. I think everyone wants him stop. He's just now getting the message and trying to seem like it's or fault he produces crap like the last Indy film, the prequels, and the mediocre Red Tails. Obviously I was kidding wishing his physical death, but I cheer his supposed cinema production death.
I find it funny how... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 08:31 · Score: 0

Some of these comments would've got modded down to the ground almost instantly if they were in that article about that "programming prodigy" little girl who died. But if it's some old guy, it's fine.
And people wonder why "for the children" laws get passed so easily...
1. Re:I find it funny how... by Doctor_Jest · 2012-03-04 09:11 · Score: 1
  
  Children are tasty, with the right seasoning...
  But in all seriousness, McQuarrie was a great conceptual artist and worked on such a myriad of great things, it's a big hole to fill. But I suspect in the age of CGI and Michael Bay "Writing the script as he goes along".... we won't see McQuarrie's like again. The golden age of Hollywood didn't die with the Studio System. It died when Michael Bay was allowed behind the camera. Talk all you want about Lucas' asinine dialogue and plot holes, but Michael Bay makes Lucas' work look like fucking Shakespeare.
  Why hasn't someone dropped a bus on Michael Bay?
  
  --
  It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
2. Re:I find it funny how... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 12:27 · Score: 0
  
  They tried, but nobody could get an explosion that was big enough...
  What the fuck, slashdot?
  Slow Down Cowboy!
  Slashdot requires you to wait between each successful posting of a comment to allow everyone a fair chance at posting a comment.
  It's been 8 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
  Eight minutes isn't long enough to allow everyone a fair chance at posting a comment?
Re:Lack of Gamemaker? by kanto · 2012-03-04 09:07 · Score: 1, Funny

Woosh! But hey at least you got some anti-Apple digging in, thats worth some Slashdot geek points isn't it. If you wish hard enough, one day you may even be able to talk to girls!
AC what you did there.
Dwayne Johnson = Han Solo? by Vecanti · 2012-03-04 09:19 · Score: 1

He's not retiring.

I'd bet anything is working on recasting and re-filming the Original trilogy all together. Staring The Rock!
1. Re:Dwayne Johnson = Han Solo? by zippthorne · 2012-03-04 12:09 · Score: 1
  
  And he'll chemically process the masters so he can film it again over any remaining frames of the original.
  
  --
  Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Link to concept art images by Dr+Herbert+West · 2012-03-04 09:44 · Score: 4, Interesting

Hate to be on-topic, but what the hell:
Article on Tor.com with some images from some of his other concept art. I always get a kick out of seeing hand-painted 70s-80s concept art. Cognitive dissonance-- "old fashioned" sci-fi imagery.
1. Re:Link to concept art images by Dr+Herbert+West · 2012-03-04 18:04 · Score: 1
  
  More on Kotaku.com
2. Re:Link to concept art images by Swampash · 2012-03-04 19:58 · Score: 1
  
  You seem confused as to what "cognitive dissonance" is.
RIP by tunapez · 2012-03-04 09:45 · Score: 1

I used to think the day Lucas decided he would direct the prequels as the worst day ever in the Star Wars universe.
I was wrong.

RIP, good sir. Thanks for everything.

--
Imagination drew in bold strokes, instantly serving hopes and fears, while knowledge advanced by slow increments...
A kind man to a young fan by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 10:18 · Score: 5, Interesting

When I was in the midst of my elementary school Star Wars fever I was also a collector of autographs. I made a point of tracking down more obscure people tied to the films, including Mr. McQuarrie. I sent him a letter and a drawing or two and was amazed to get a wonderful handwritten response, with his own little sketches in the margins and offering tips on my artwork. I then wrote back, with more drawings, and got a second response with a similar, personal tone. He seemed genuinely surprised that there was interest in his work. I've never forgotten those kind responses and still have the letters.
I never met him or knew much more about his life (I believe he was a WWII vet), but those responses make me believe he was a kind and thoughtful guy. Thanks, Mr. McQuarrie, for taking the time to inspire a young kid in the midwest.
Shoulda encased hin in carbonite ... by SplashMyBandit · 2012-03-04 11:34 · Score: 1

.. that way when the next Sith Lord gains enough unnatural abilities of the Dark Side to reverse death he'll be ok.
1. Re:Shoulda encased hin in carbonite ... by tempest69 · 2012-03-04 18:00 · Score: 1
  
  Or just a modest funeral, with an R2-D2 casket, perhaps one in excellent condition a real bargain, carried by 6 jawa pallbearers, with some John Williams scored procession music. yea it could work. The eulogy by Yoda could be a fun. Joking aside- Brilliant artist, had his posters in my room as a kid. I imagine that Star Wars would be be a cheesy mess without his art. He added wonder to my childhood, I'll remember his work fondly the rest of my life.
2. Re:Shoulda encased hin in carbonite ... by SplashMyBandit · 2012-03-04 18:15 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, the art of Star Wars books showcase his artistic talent too.
A hand I would love to have shaken... by MobileTatsu-NJG · 2012-03-04 11:38 · Score: 4, Insightful

I do visual work for a living. We have a whole library of art we look at for inspiration and Mr. McQuarrie's right at the top of the list. His work not only affected my visual development as a youngin, I mean who at my age didn't see Star Wars, but for the rest of my life his paintings will be studied and, even if indirectly, they'll continue to serve to entertain the world.
I'm exhausted right now. I really wish I had the ability to speak more eloquently about this man. I'm just at a loss for words. I hear this man's name at least once a week and it seems like I'd just have a lot more to say. But I'm tired. I'm just going to leave it at this: I really wish I could have shaken his hand, both for personal and for professional reasons.
Farewell, Mr. McQuarrie. You were fantastic.

--

"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
http://belovha.blogspot.com by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 12:03 · Score: 0

hi ,,,, nice artikel ,, i very like this ...
back link http://belovha.blogspot.com
Rest in peace by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-04 12:46 · Score: 0

You helped to create one of the most striking stories of our times. May the Lord rest your soul in peace.
A childhood icon by kafka47 · 2012-03-05 01:01 · Score: 1

Definitely an influential figure in my early years. A wonderful artist and imaginative soul.
1. Re:A childhood icon by Pope · 2012-03-05 03:16 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed. I had his "Art of Empire Strikes Back" portfolio pics up on my wall when I was a kid :)
  
  --
  It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.