Adoption of CGI in Hollywood Blockbusters (1989-2005)

1. CGI “water pseudopod” debuts in The Abyss

   Aug 9, 1989Labels: The Abyss, ILM

   • The Abyss
   • Syfy

2. T-1000 sets new bar in Terminator 2

   Jul 3, 1991Labels: Terminator 2, T-1000

   • ILM
   • ASC

3. Terminator 2 wins the VFX Oscar

   Mar 30, 1992Labels: Academy Awards, Terminator 2

   • Oscars VFX

4. Death Becomes Her advances digital “body” effects

   Jul 31, 1992Labels: Death Becomes, Robert Zemeckis

   • Death Becomes Her
   • Oscars VFX

5. Jurassic Park mainstreams photoreal CGI creatures

   Jun 11, 1993Labels: Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg

   • Oscars
   • Academy Museum

6. Jurassic Park wins Best Visual Effects Oscar

   Mar 21, 1994Labels: Academy Awards, Jurassic Park

   • Oscars

7. Toy Story proves feature-length CGI can sell

   Nov 22, 1995Labels: Toy Story, Pixar

   • Britannica
   • Toy Story

8. Twister brings CGI into large-scale disaster action

   May 10, 1996Labels: Twister

   • Twister

9. Titanic scales up digital water and crowds

   Dec 19, 1997Labels: Titanic, James Cameron

   • VFXHQ
   • Titanic

10. The Matrix popularizes digital compositing for action

    Mar 31, 1999Labels: The Matrix, digital compositing

    • Oscars VFX
    • Matrix

11. Jar Jar Binks introduces a major CGI co-star

    May 19, 1999Labels: The Phantom, Jar Jar

    • Jar Jar
    • Phantom Menace

12. Fellowship of the Ring proves large-scale digital worlds

    Dec 19, 2001Labels: The Fellowship, Peter Jackson

    • Oscars VFX
    • LOTR FOTR

13. Gollum becomes a landmark performance-driven CGI character

    Dec 18, 2002Labels: Gollum, Andy Serkis

    • Two Towers
    • CGW

14. Return of the King caps the trilogy’s VFX approach

    Dec 17, 2003Labels: Return of, The Lord

    • Oscars VFX
    • ROTK

15. King Kong showcases mature motion capture creature realism

    Dec 14, 2005Labels: King Kong, motion capture

    • King Kong
    • Oscars VFX