Over the years pop culture has been blessed with classic sci-fi experiences such as the Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and Harry Potter trilogies have been produced simply because of the outstanding special effects. With technological advancements we see constant improvements to special effects in film mainly with the help of Computer Graphics Interface (CGI) or Green screen such effects. Classic films throughout the 90's with huge budget would use Robotic Props or Animatronics, Model Building, and incredible set design making use large teams of designers in all sorts of fields to accomplish.
Since I was a child I've always wanted to design movie sets and props, a simple fascination. Now with CGI that hope was shot dead. As CGI progresses and the animations in film look more realistic I'm becoming more impressed but nothing still compares to a animatronics. Like who got to design the shark for Jaws? Or, who the costumes for the Ewoks from Star Wars? It's all design and has been taken to the computer and animated. Now Hollywood decides to make prequels to older movies such as Star Wars, Batman, Indiana Jones, special effects suit the period yet still don't ever match the originals. Why? Because nothing is as timeless as a large budget and almost realistic robots dressed to play the role. Not only is it easier for actors/actresses to act with the actual figures rather than a green screen, but creates more jobs for designers. This could be an essay, so I'll leave you with a few visual examples:
Here is an Ewok from Star Wars III Return of the Jedi. One Hell of a costume!
A Animatronic Head from the making of Star Wars Episode I. How It should be done. 
The Wonderful Animatronic T-Rex. Too bad it turns out they were smaller and had feathers.What a disappointment.
The wonderful set design from the original Star Wars Film. The budget speaks for itself,a classic film.
All images credited to imdb.com
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