Its all About the Nose
I was bitten by the monster bug as a kid. I loved dinosaurs and watching the sci-fi fantasy and monster movies of the 50s and 60s, they ignited a creative passion in me. The films of Ray Harryhausen and Willis O’Brien and the classic Disney features fueled my imagination. The characters and comedy of the Looney Tunes along with the Little Rascals, Abbott and Costello and Laurel and Hardy molded my sense of humor.
Through the amazing 80s to today, for over 40 years we’ve been creating and bringing memorable characters and stories to life, putting a “Chiodo Spin” on everything we do. Some of our contributions are Large Marge for Tim Burton, the Critters, our 80’s cult classic, Killer Klowns from Outer Space and the Trolls that scared Earnest Stupid. We did Dinosaurs for Syd and Marty Krofft’s Land of the Lost reboot and many special props for The Power Rangers tv series and feature films. We even designed and animated the breathing title logo for Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
The amazing comic art and illustrations of Frank Frazetta, Mort Drucker, Walt Kelly and Jack Davis inspired me to develop my art and visual storytelling skills. All of this was applied to the super eight movies I made with my brothers Stephen and Edward. Many hours were spent planning and prepping for movies that were never made. You may or may not remember the epic films we did make, like The Beast From the Egg, Africa Danny, Eskimo and The Sludge Grubs.
My passion took me from my Long Island basement to Freelance Illustration in New York. I left New York in 1978 and headed to Crystal City Virginia to join Stephen and design and storyboard a stop motion feature film based on Walt Kelly’s Pogo characters. In 1980, my brother Stephen and I were Hollywood bound with our younger brother Edward joining us soon after and we started Chiodo Bros. Productions, a Special FX company specializing in practical effects, props and stop motion animation for films, tv shows, commercials and theme parks.
It was a joy, an honor and a privilege to collaborate with many of the skilled, artists, directors and writers that inspired me when I was younger. I honed my skills working with them, they raised the creative bar for me and made me a better artist. Now, in everything I do I try to capture that childlike sense of Wonder and Excitement that affected me so many years ago. I’ve been doing the same kind of stuff that I loved as a kid. It is my hope that I can thrill and inspire new generations of aspiring young artists.
To all of you I say, follow your passion and put your ”Spin” on what you love so that one day you can inspire others.
