Movies - TV
Chuck Russell's CGI Troubles With The Blob Paved The Way For Jim Carrey's The Mask
By LEE ADAMS
While Chuck Russell and his special effects team let audiences see the Blob get its melt-on in several brilliantly gruesome scenes in the 1988 remake, the Blob would have looked far different if the director had had his original way. “I thought maybe we could do CGI, but it did not work,” Russell revealed — CGI was still in its infancy in the late ‘80s.
However, CGI had developed rapidly by the time Russell made 1994's "The Mask." Dream Quest Images (which worked on the failed CG effects in "The Blob") teamed up with ILM to realize the outrageous cartoon manifestations of Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) when he becomes the titular anarchic superhero.
While the effects look dated now, they were integral to bringing Carrey’s character to life, and it was only made possible due to Russell’s CGI “research from 'The Blob.'” For what it’s worth, the scene where Ipkiss first puts on the mask gives viewers a further indication of what the CG Blob might have looked like.