Ron Cobb facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ron Cobb
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| Born |
Ronald Ray Cobb
September 21, 1937 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Died | September 21, 2020 (aged 83) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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| Nationality | American, Australian |
Ronald Ray Cobb (born September 21, 1937 – died September 21, 2020) was a talented American-Australian artist. He was known for his amazing work in many famous movies. He helped create the look of films like Dark Star (1974), Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979), and Back to the Future (1985).
Ron Cobb also drew cartoons for newspapers and even created a special symbol. This symbol later became part of the Ecology Flag.
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Ron Cobb's Life Story
Ronald Ray "Ron" Cobb was born in Los Angeles, USA. But he spent most of his life living in Sydney, Australia.
Starting His Art Career
When Ron Cobb was just 18, he started working at Disney Studios. He didn't have any special art training, but he became an "inbetweener" artist. This means he drew the frames that go between the main drawings to make animation smooth. He worked on the movie Sleeping Beauty (1959).
After Sleeping Beauty was finished in 1957, Ron Cobb left Disney. For the next few years, he worked different jobs. He was a mail carrier, helped in a factory, and even painted signs.
In 1960, he joined the U.S. Army. He spent two years delivering important documents around San Francisco. Then, he went to Vietnam in 1963 as a draftsman, which means he drew technical plans.
After leaving the Army, Cobb started working as a freelance artist. He began drawing for the Los Angeles Free Press in 1965. This was an "underground newspaper" known for its strong opinions. Cobb's political cartoons were very popular in this newspaper and others like it. Even though his cartoons were famous, he didn't make much money from them.
He also designed the cover for the band Jefferson Airplane's album, After Bathing at Baxter's, in 1967.
In 1969, Ron Cobb designed a special symbol for the environment. This symbol was later used on the Ecology Flag, which represents caring for our planet.
Moving to Australia and Movie Work
In 1972, Ron Cobb moved to Sydney, Australia. His artwork appeared in magazines there. Later, some of his best cartoons were put into books like The Cobb Book (1975) and Cobb Again (1978).
Ron Cobb then started working on movies again. He helped design the spaceship for the 1973 film Dark Star. He even drew the first design on a napkin!
He also helped create ideas for Star Wars (1977). He designed many of the unique alien creatures seen in the famous Mos Eisley cantina scene.
Cobb's designs were also featured in other big movies. He worked on Alien (1979) and Conan the Barbarian (1982). For Conan, he was the "Production Designer," meaning he helped create the overall look of the film.
He also contributed to films like The Last Starfighter (1984), Total Recall (1990), and True Lies (1994). He even directed one movie himself, an Australian film called Garbo.
Ron Cobb had an idea for a scary movie that was an early version of E.T.. He was going to direct it, but the story changed, and Steven Spielberg ended up directing the movie we know today.
In 1985, he was given a special credit for Back to the Future. He was called the "DeLorean Time Travel Consultant"!
In the 1990s, Cobb worked on video games. He designed characters for games like Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine (1994) and The Space Bar (1997). He also co-wrote an episode of The Twilight Zone TV show with his wife.
Ron Cobb designed two swords for the 1982 Conan the Barbarian movie. His original drawings are now used to make toy replicas of these swords for fans.
His Final Years
Ron Cobb passed away on his 83rd birthday, September 21, 2020. He died from problems related to Lewy body dementia.
See also
- List of editorial cartoonists
