Albert Whitlock arrived at John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) with a legendary reputation: a British-born matte artist who had won Academy Awards for Earthquake (1974) and The Hindenburg (1975) and who ran Universal's matte department for decades. For years Whitlock was widely credited with "painting all the shots" of the uncovered alien starship in The Thing — both distant vistas and the closer, more detailed viewpoints that help sell the mystery on screen. In 2020, however, Carpenter offered a startling revision to that tidy credit line. He told interviewers that Whitlock disliked him personally, largely abandoned the production, and left the actual painting work to assistants in the studio art department. Carpenter claimed Whitlock nevertheless accepted and kept the credit, even telling the director, "I didn't take a brush to canvas."
Preparing the daily feature…
AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1980s
John Carpenter's 2020 Allegation: Albert Whitlock Took Credit for The Thing's Mattes
Albert Whitlock / The Thing (1982) / 1980s
Albert Whitlock arrived at John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) with a legendary reputation: a British-born matte artist who had won Academy Awards for Earthquake (1974) and The Hindenburg (1975) and who ran Universal's matte department for decades. For years Whitlock was widely credited with "painting all the shots" of the uncovered alien starship in The Thing — both distant vistas and the closer, more detailed viewpoints that help sell the mystery on screen. In 2020, however, Carpenter offered a startling revision to that tidy credit line. He told interviewers that Whitlock disliked him personally, largely abandoned the production, and left the actual painting work to assistants in the studio art department. Carpenter claimed Whitlock nevertheless accepted and kept the credit, even telling the director, "I didn't take a brush to canvas."
The daily feature is taking an intermission. There’s still an entire archive to explore.