Make-up, animatronics and effects legend Stan Winston passed away on Sunday at the too-young age of 62. In memoriam, Cinematical humbly presents this list of the man's most enduring achievements.

Some of my most treasured movie memories -- childhood and otherwise -- are courtesy of Stan Winston. What impressed me about this list as I was making it was that Winston specialized in realizing the imaginations of our greatest filmmakers -- directors like Burton, Spielberg, Cameron. Winston was a genius himself, of course, but he also facilitated genius, and that's just as important. Those guys owe him so much.

He had many accomplishments beyond the ones I've listed. That's what the comment thread is for.


1. Jurassic Park's Dinosaurs.

It's hard to describe the impression Jurassic Park made back in 1993. I was 9 years old, which was just old enough to be properly amazed. This was the new generation of popular cinema: perfect, lifelike wonders on the screen as if it were the most natural thing on the planet. Earlier technicians did a lot with simple puppetry, stop-motion and miniatures, but now all bets were off, and all barriers seemed lifted. Once you accepted the scientific goofiness of the film's premise, no further suspension of disbelief was necessary. Winston opened the gates to a whole new cinematic playground.

A number of sources are reporting that pioneering make-up, special effects, and animatronics wizard Stan Winston has died at age 62 -- far too soon. No word yet on cause of death.

The word "legend" gets tossed around a lot when famous people die, but Stan Winston is a legend. He brought to life the Terminator, Jurassic Park's dinosaurs, Predator, Edward Scissorhands, and the Penguin, just to name a few. Even now, when one would think the advent of CGI would have started to make him obsolete, his practical effects genius got him work on movies like Iron Man and the forthcoming Terminator Salvation. I guess it was inevitable that in the age of computers, Winston would go from creating wonders to perfecting them. But Iron Man owes a great deal to him. He kept Tony Stark from looking silly in that metal suit.

Far from being obsolete, Stan Winston is irreplaceable. Movie lovers will never forget him.

I haven't looked at the "funny pages" in years, so I'm not familiar with Mark Tatulli's comic strip Liō. From what I can tell, though, it's a bit like Calvin and Hobbes but instead of a tiger, the kid is friends with macabre figures like the Grim Reaper. And they're not as much part of the boy's imagination. Now that I've looked at a bunch, I'm pretty much hooked. It's definitely not the best strip I've ever read, but considering my old favorites are no longer being produced, Liō is a fair alternative to much of the junk filling the comics section these days. Anyway, because I'm hooked on the strip, which has apparently been around for a year and a half now, I'm also excited about the news that it's being turned into a live-action movie. According to Variety, producer David Kirschner is working with Universal Press Syndicate to bring the boy and his creepy companions to the big screen. It's certainly fitting since Kirschner is the guy who gave us both Fievel Mousekewitz and the Chucky doll. He will be working with Corey Sienega, who he partnered with on Seed of Chucky and the upcoming Martian Child.

The only thing I'm concerned about is the story, and whether or not it could maybe be told without dialogue. See, Liō is a primarily pantomimed strip and it would be most appropriate if the movie were the same. Of course, Hollywood would never go for a silent adaptation. Besides, it's a lot easier for each strip to be dialogue-free, since there's no on-going plot. Not that the movie would necessarily require dialogue, but it could definitely use some. The important thing, however, and this is only if I'm getting the strip correctly based on about 10 examples, is to keep the supernatural friends rather mysterious and/or ambiguous. As far as I can tell, we shouldn't know how or why Liō is pals with them. Also, the dialogue would have to be easily translated into foreign languages, since the strip's speechlessness has allowed it to become a hit overseas. In talking about adapting Liō, Kirschner has mentioned models in The Addams Family and Edward Scissorhands. So, can we assume he's already tried to contact Tim Burton's people (with Sonnenfeld's number on the back-burner)? Also, can we get this in time for a double-feature with the Edward Gorey movie?

I'm not sure what to make of this, but I will say that watching a man with giant scissorhands dance and twirl his way around the stage feels a bit ... odd. A trailer of sorts for the staged Edward Scissorhands production -- scheduled to arrive in Brooklyn this spring -- has landed on YouTube in all of its blue-tinted glory. Help, I'm torn: part of me thinks it looks fantastic and beautiful, while the Edward Scissorhands fanboy in me simply wants to avoid it at all costs. Scissorhands isn't supposed to prance; he's pale, jaded and in love with a woman he cannot touch without impaling her through the chest.

The production, which, thankfully, is being presented without words (not sure I could take Scissorhands breaking out into song while dancing), opens up this March 14 at BAM's Howard Gilman Opera House. However, you'll have to be fast as it only lasts through the end of the month. Matthew Bourne created the dance-theater adaptation -- using Tim Burton's beloved film as the source material -- and is convinced the production will not only be wildly entertaining, but also pack a powerful message. He notes: "Even though the production is spectacular, outrageously funny and touchingly romantic, its simple message of tolerance and looking beneath the surface seems particularly important." Hey, if anything, it's amazing to watch the lead dancer somehow pull off his moves with these huge pair of scissors attached to his hands. That alone should be worth the price of admission ... which, in case you were wondering, ranges from $30 to $80 for a pair of tickets.

If we learned anything from this entire rumor, it would be to never trust Michael Keaton. Not long ago, we reported on a story about a guy who approached Michael Keaton during dinner for an autograph and walked away from the conversation with some pretty interesting information. At the time, according to Keaton, Tim Burton was working on a script for Beetlejuice 2 and that, as soon as everyone was free, the project would move forward.

Well, turns out we were all Punk'd. IESB recently interviewed Burton and asked him whether or not there was any real truth behind a sequel to Beetlejuice. After laughing the question off, he politely responded that he was not working on a script, but figured someone out there was. In fact, he was convinced he had an evil twin confirming projects that never existed. Ahem...that would be us. Okay, so if there's no Beetlejuice sequel, perhaps he'll revisit another one of his classic films?

Um, no. When asked if he would ever consider a sequel to films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and/or Edward Scissorhands, Burton axed those rumors real fast claiming they were more personal and wanted to keep them as pure as possible. However, he did mention how fond he was of Edgar Allan Poe and left open the door to a Poe project in the near future. Currently, Burton is working on Believe It or Not, to which there is still no star attached. The director claims it is way too early for any casting decisions, though I'd suspect either Johnny Depp or Jim Carrey will nab the part.