Stop Motion Works & Retro FX: April 2025

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The 1987 Sci-Fi classic RoboCop, directed by Paul Verhoeven, remains a cult favorite, thanks to its compelling narrative and enduring appeal. Its success sparked sequels, a remake, TV series, and cartoon animated adaptations, though few matched the original’s impact. The sequel, RoboCop 2, directed by Irvin Kershner, leaned heavily on intricate analog special effects but didn’t quite capture the first film’s magic. Subsequent entries suffered from studio interference, diluting the franchise’s vision and coherence, as many critics and fans agree.

While the RoboCop universe offers endless discussion ... readily available in online analyses ... my focus here is narrower and technical: ED-209, the iconic robotic enforcer of Detroit’s dystopian streets. Specifically, I’ll explore the artistry behind its creation, crafted using classic stop-motion animation in the tradition of masters like Ray Harryhausen. Below, I’ll share videos and articles shedding light on the ED-209’s analog special effects, perhaps, an underappreciated aspect of this sci-fi landmark.

Researching this information wasn’t as straightforward as I expected. It required some legwork to piece together from various sources.

ED-209 model was designed by → Craig Hayes (aka Davies). Craig, and his associate
→ Paula Lucchesi (only two person crew!) constructed the full size static ED-209 prop/model.

There were a total of TWO identical ED-209 internal Stop Motion armatures which were designed by → Tom St. Amand. Tom and his associate → Blair Clark machined the armatures. Upon completion of the armatures, they were passed on to Craig Hayes who fabricated all the exterior shell pieces that attached to the armatures. The stop motion puppet exterior being an exact match to the full size ED-209.

The hands-on stop motion animation was shared among Phil Tippett, → Randal M. Dutra, and → Harry Walton. Phil would usually work on his own scenes, while Randal & Harry worked together on other animation scenes.

Okay ... here is one of the classic and iconic Robocop scenes. Remember that this was before digital visual special effects. All this done with retro analog cinema effects methods. Just a little warning ... → practical effects used here and they are very convincing😮. You have the option to stop the video or turn away if you choose not to watch it 😁

Movie clip below, is another classic scene where Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) confronts the weakened Robocop (Peter Weller). A battle emerges between ED-209 and Robocop.

The original full-size ED-209 model by Craig Hayes had been stored in the Tippett studio warehouse, high up near the ceiling rafters, for many years. Recently, it was carefully dismounted and brought down to the studio floor for cleaning and minor restoration. Youtube channel 'Tested' host, Adam Savage, visits ED-209.

This video, is a general overview of some of the Robocop special effects, it includes master matte painter → Rocco Gioffre commenting about classic matte painting composites effects. Also Craig Hayes' backstory about the design & construction of the full size ED-209.

Here is Harry Walton, a veteran in stop motion animation and visual special effects, recollecting about his work on Robocop.

Phil Tippett back in 1987, appeared on a USA weekday Mon-Fri TV program called Evening Magazine.

Another one ... Phil Tippett next to an ED-209 stop motion animation stage set-up with a projected rear screen ... he's describing what stop motion is.

The spark for this blog was a simple question: Where are the original two ED-209 stop-motion puppets from RoboCop? Online discussions and videos often focus on the intricate CAIN puppets from RoboCop 2, whose complex design may overshadow the simpler ED-209 puppet models. As mentioned, only two ED-209 puppets were built. I’ve been tracking their whereabouts, suspecting Phil Tippett might still own one, while the other may have been auctioned. Despite searching Propstore.com, I found no trace of them. Here is a video clip of about 12 years ago, recorded at Phil Tippett's studio.You can clearly see the ED-209 stop motion puppet in the the lower middle of screen.

Some LINKS for you → Tried-and-True Style for Robocop → Randal M. Dutra on ‘RoboCop’

Here is someone's passion project to re-create the Tom St.Amand / Craig Hayes ED-209 armature & puppet. His objective was to machine this. That was back in 2017 😐 → ED-209 Stop Motion Armature Design

Here is the only photo of Tom St. Amand's ED-209 armature that I have seen.Long ago, I had a collection of → Cinefex magazines which recently, I donated many of them. Fortunately, I saved the Stop Motion themed Cinefex's including the Robocop issue #32. From the magazine, I took this photo. I am guessing that you might possibly think that it may not look complex or sturdy, however, Tom's engineering design of all the jointing mechanisms, most effectively performs the necessary animation movements. It is made of strong & rigid Aircraft Aluminum. The finished massive size appearance of the ED-209 stop motion puppets was, thanks to, the creative & technical skills of Craig Hayes, who fabricated all the puppet exteriors with vacu-formed plastic & other materials, with intricate detailing ... that completely covered the internal armature.You can click on the photo to Super-Size it and zoom into the photo.