Colin Cantwell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Colin Cantwell
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Colin Cantwell at a signing event in TATE’S Comics in Lauderhill, Florida on March 17, 2019
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| Born | April 3, 1932 |
| Died | May 21, 2022 (aged 90) |
| Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Artist |
| Partner(s) | Sierra Dall |
| Relatives | Robert Cantwell (uncle) |
Colin James Cantwell (born April 3, 1932 – died May 21, 2022) was an amazing American artist and director. He is best known for his incredible work on famous movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and WarGames. But what really made him famous was creating the first ideas and models for many Star Wars vehicles. He helped design the X-wing fighter, the TIE fighter, and even the giant Death Star! Other artists later made his designs even better.
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Colin Cantwell's Creative Journey
Colin Cantwell had a fascinating career, working on space, movies, and computers.
Working with NASA
Did you know Colin Cantwell once worked for NASA? He was even in the CBS News studio during the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing. He helped the famous news anchor, Walter Cronkite, explain the landing as it happened. Imagine being there for such a big moment!
Designing for the Stars
Colin Cantwell was a key part of creating the look of some very famous movies.
Space Adventures in Film
In the early 1970s, Colin helped create a cool show called Voyage to the Outer Planets. It was an early multimedia presentation that showed a spacecraft traveling through our solar system.
He also worked on the classic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Colin convinced the director, Stanley Kubrick, to start the movie with an exciting space scene. He also suggested using the famous music "Also sprach Zarathustra" for the opening. This music is now known all over the world!
Creating Star Wars Ships
In 1974, Colin Cantwell was hired to work on the very first Star Wars movie. He took ideas from director George Lucas and turned them into amazing designs. He made the first models for many iconic vehicles, including:
- The X-wing fighter
- The Y-wing
- The TIE fighter
- The Star Destroyer
- The Death Star
- The Tantive IV (which was first meant to be the Millennium Falcon)
- The landspeeder
- The sandcrawler
Later, other talented artists like Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston took Colin's original designs and made them even more detailed. One of Colin's actual models even appeared in the movie! You can see Luke Skywalker playing with it while talking to C-3PO.
Computer Graphics Pioneer
Colin Cantwell also helped with computer technology. He worked with a company called Hewlett-Packard to develop their special desktop computers. These computers were made for creating graphics.
He then used these powerful computers to design the cool computer graphics for the big screens in the NORAD set in the 1983 movie WarGames.
About Colin's Life
Colin James Cantwell was born in San Francisco on April 3, 1932. He studied at the University of California at Los Angeles and earned a degree in applied arts in 1957.
His uncle, Robert Cantwell, was also a creative person, known as a critic and author.
Colin Cantwell passed away at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 21, 2022, at the age of 90.
Awards and Recognition
In 1984, Colin Cantwell was nominated for a big award! He was up for the Best Special Visual Effects award at the 37th British Academy Film Awards for his work on WarGames. Even though Return of the Jedi won that year, it was a great honor to be nominated for such an important award.
