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Ron Cobb is a Actor, Director, Production Designer, Concept Artist and Special Effects American born on 21 september 1937 at Los Angeles (USA)
Ron Cobb (born 1937) is an American cartoonist, artist, writer, film designer, and film director.
By the age of 18, with no formal training in graphic illustration, Cobb was working as an animation "inbetweener" artist for Disney Studios in Burbank, California. He progressed to becoming a breakdown artist on the animation feature Sleeping Beauty (1959). (This was the last Disney film to have cels inked by hand.)
After Sleeping Beauty was completed in 1957, Disney laid off Cobb and he spent the next three years in various jobs — mail carrier, assembler in a door factory, sign painter's assistant — until he was drafted in 1960 into the US Army. For the next two years he delivered classified documents around San Francisco, then, after signing up for an extra year to avoid assignment to the infantry, was sent to Vietnam in 1963 as a draughtsman for the Signal Corps. On his discharge, Cobb began freelancing as an artist. He began to contribute to the Los Angeles Free Press in 1965.
Edited and published by Art Kunkin, the Los Angeles Free Press was one of the first of the underground newspapers of the 1960s, noted for its radical politics. Cobb's editorial/political cartoons were a celebrated feature of the Freep, and appeared regularly throughout member newspapers of the Underground Press Syndicate. However, although he was regarded as one of the finest political cartoonists of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, Cobb made very little money from the cartoons and was always looking for work elsewhere.His cartoons were featured in the back to the land magazine "The Mother Earth News."
Among other projects, Cobb designed the cover for Jefferson Airplane's 1967 album, After Bathing at Baxter's. He also contributed design work for the cult film, Dark Star (1973) (he drew the original design for the exterior of the Dark Star spaceship on a Pancake House napkin).
His cartoons from the 1960s and 1970s are collected in RCD-25 (1967) and Mah Fellow Americans (1968) (both Sawyer Press), and Raw Sewage (1971) and My Fellow Americans (1971) (both Price Stern and Sloan). None of these volumes remains in print.
In 1969 Cobb designed the Ecology Flag.
In 1972, Cobb moved to Sydney, Australia, where his work appeared in alternative magazines such as The Digger. Independent publishers Wild & Woolley published a "best of" collection of the earlier cartoon books, The Cobb Book in 1975. A follow-up volume, Cobb Again, appeared in 1978.
In 1981, Colorvision, a large-format, full-colour monograph appeared, including much of his design work for the films Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979), and Conan the Barbarian (1982), the first feature for which he received the credit of Production Designer. Cobb has also contributed production design to the films The Last Starfighter (1984), Leviath, Total Recall (1990), True Lies (1994), The Sixth Day (2000), Cats & Dogs (2001), Southland Tales (2006), and the Australian feature Garbo, which he directed. Cobb contributed the initial story for Night Skies, an earlier, darker version of E.T.. Steven Spielberg offered him the opportunity to direct this scarier sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind until problems arose over special effects that required a major rewrite. While Cobb was in Spain working on Conan the Barbarian, Spielberg supervised the rewrite into the more personal E.T. and ended up directing it himself. Cobb later received some net profit participation.
During the early '90s, Ron worked with Rocket Science Games. His designs can be seen most notably in Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine (1994) and The Space Bar (1997), in which he designed all the characters.
Cobb also co-wrote with his wife, Robin Love, one of the (1985–1987) Twilight Zone episodes.
Licencié par Disney en 1957 après son travail sur La Belle au bois dormant, il pratique divers métiers — facteur, assembleur dans une fabrique de portes, assistant peintre en publicité — avant d'être incorporé dans l'armée américaine en 1960. Pendant deux ans, il livre des documents confidentiels autour de San Francisco. Il décide alors de rempiler pour une année supplémentaire afin d'éviter une affectation dans l'infanterie et est envoyé au Viêt Nam en tant que dessinateur pour le Signal Corps.
À partir de 1965, il collabore au Los Angeles Free Press comme artiste freelance. Édité et publié par Art Kunkin , le Los Angeles Free Press est un des premiers journaux alternatifs des années 1960, connu pour sa ligne éditoriale radicale. Les dessins politiques de Cobb sont parmi les plus célèbres du journal et il participe régulièrement à divers journaux de l'Underground Press Syndicate . Bien que considéré comme l'un des meilleurs dessinateurs politiques des années 1960 et 1970, Cobb ne parvient pas à gagner sa vie avec ses dessins et doit continuer à exercer des petits boulots.
Outre ses dessins de presse, il réalise en 1967 la pochette de l'album After Bathing at Baxter's du groupe Jefferson Airplane et conçoit en 1969 un visuel sur l'écologie en superposant les lettres e (pour environnement) et o (pour organisme). Le symbole, rappelant la lettre grecque thêta, apparaît pour la première fois dans les colonnes du Los Angeles Free Press. Cobb le met ensuite dans le domaine public et le magazine Look l'utilise pour créer le drapeau de l'écologie , sur le modèle du drapeau des États-Unis. À cette époque, il participe aussi au film culte Dark Star (1973) en dessinant les lignes du vaisseau spatial.
En 1972, il s'installe à Sydney, en Australie, avec sa femme Robin Love. Il continue à travailler pour des journaux alternatifs, notamment The Digger .
(1981)
(Production Artist)
(1990)
(Concept Artist)
(1986)
(Conceptual Design)
(1979)
(Concept Artist)
(1989)
(Conceptual Design)
(1982)
(Production Design)
Source : Wikidata
Ron Cobb
- Infos
- Photos
- Best films
- Family
- Characters
- Awards
By the age of 18, with no formal training in graphic illustration, Cobb was working as an animation "inbetweener" artist for Disney Studios in Burbank, California. He progressed to becoming a breakdown artist on the animation feature Sleeping Beauty (1959). (This was the last Disney film to have cels inked by hand.)
After Sleeping Beauty was completed in 1957, Disney laid off Cobb and he spent the next three years in various jobs — mail carrier, assembler in a door factory, sign painter's assistant — until he was drafted in 1960 into the US Army. For the next two years he delivered classified documents around San Francisco, then, after signing up for an extra year to avoid assignment to the infantry, was sent to Vietnam in 1963 as a draughtsman for the Signal Corps. On his discharge, Cobb began freelancing as an artist. He began to contribute to the Los Angeles Free Press in 1965.
Edited and published by Art Kunkin, the Los Angeles Free Press was one of the first of the underground newspapers of the 1960s, noted for its radical politics. Cobb's editorial/political cartoons were a celebrated feature of the Freep, and appeared regularly throughout member newspapers of the Underground Press Syndicate. However, although he was regarded as one of the finest political cartoonists of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, Cobb made very little money from the cartoons and was always looking for work elsewhere.His cartoons were featured in the back to the land magazine "The Mother Earth News."
Among other projects, Cobb designed the cover for Jefferson Airplane's 1967 album, After Bathing at Baxter's. He also contributed design work for the cult film, Dark Star (1973) (he drew the original design for the exterior of the Dark Star spaceship on a Pancake House napkin).
His cartoons from the 1960s and 1970s are collected in RCD-25 (1967) and Mah Fellow Americans (1968) (both Sawyer Press), and Raw Sewage (1971) and My Fellow Americans (1971) (both Price Stern and Sloan). None of these volumes remains in print.
In 1969 Cobb designed the Ecology Flag.
In 1972, Cobb moved to Sydney, Australia, where his work appeared in alternative magazines such as The Digger. Independent publishers Wild & Woolley published a "best of" collection of the earlier cartoon books, The Cobb Book in 1975. A follow-up volume, Cobb Again, appeared in 1978.
In 1981, Colorvision, a large-format, full-colour monograph appeared, including much of his design work for the films Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979), and Conan the Barbarian (1982), the first feature for which he received the credit of Production Designer. Cobb has also contributed production design to the films The Last Starfighter (1984), Leviath, Total Recall (1990), True Lies (1994), The Sixth Day (2000), Cats & Dogs (2001), Southland Tales (2006), and the Australian feature Garbo, which he directed. Cobb contributed the initial story for Night Skies, an earlier, darker version of E.T.. Steven Spielberg offered him the opportunity to direct this scarier sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind until problems arose over special effects that required a major rewrite. While Cobb was in Spain working on Conan the Barbarian, Spielberg supervised the rewrite into the more personal E.T. and ended up directing it himself. Cobb later received some net profit participation.
During the early '90s, Ron worked with Rocket Science Games. His designs can be seen most notably in Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine (1994) and The Space Bar (1997), in which he designed all the characters.
Cobb also co-wrote with his wife, Robin Love, one of the (1985–1987) Twilight Zone episodes.
Biography
À l'âge de 18 ans, sans formation graphique particulière, il commence à travailler comme intervalliste aux Walt Disney Studios à Burbank (Californie). Il grimpe les échelons et finit par être chargé du découpage du scénario de La Belle au bois dormant (1959).Licencié par Disney en 1957 après son travail sur La Belle au bois dormant, il pratique divers métiers — facteur, assembleur dans une fabrique de portes, assistant peintre en publicité — avant d'être incorporé dans l'armée américaine en 1960. Pendant deux ans, il livre des documents confidentiels autour de San Francisco. Il décide alors de rempiler pour une année supplémentaire afin d'éviter une affectation dans l'infanterie et est envoyé au Viêt Nam en tant que dessinateur pour le Signal Corps.
À partir de 1965, il collabore au Los Angeles Free Press comme artiste freelance. Édité et publié par Art Kunkin , le Los Angeles Free Press est un des premiers journaux alternatifs des années 1960, connu pour sa ligne éditoriale radicale. Les dessins politiques de Cobb sont parmi les plus célèbres du journal et il participe régulièrement à divers journaux de l'Underground Press Syndicate . Bien que considéré comme l'un des meilleurs dessinateurs politiques des années 1960 et 1970, Cobb ne parvient pas à gagner sa vie avec ses dessins et doit continuer à exercer des petits boulots.
Outre ses dessins de presse, il réalise en 1967 la pochette de l'album After Bathing at Baxter's du groupe Jefferson Airplane et conçoit en 1969 un visuel sur l'écologie en superposant les lettres e (pour environnement) et o (pour organisme). Le symbole, rappelant la lettre grecque thêta, apparaît pour la première fois dans les colonnes du Los Angeles Free Press. Cobb le met ensuite dans le domaine public et le magazine Look l'utilise pour créer le drapeau de l'écologie , sur le modèle du drapeau des États-Unis. À cette époque, il participe aussi au film culte Dark Star (1973) en dessinant les lignes du vaisseau spatial.
En 1972, il s'installe à Sydney, en Australie, avec sa femme Robin Love. Il continue à travailler pour des journaux alternatifs, notamment The Digger .
Best films
(1981)(Production Artist)
(1990)(Concept Artist)
(1986)(Conceptual Design)
(1979)(Concept Artist)
(1989)(Conceptual Design)
(1982)(Production Design)
Usually with
Filmography of Ron Cobb (14 films)
Actor
Add to a movie listConan the Barbarian (1982)
, 2h5Directed by John Milius
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Themes Films about slavery, Films about magic and magicians
Actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Sandahl Bergman, Cassandra Gava, Mako Iwamatsu, Valérie Quennessen
Roles Black Lotus Street Peddler (uncredited)
Rating68%
Wizard of the Mounds Conan the Barbarian is a film about a young barbarian's quest to avenge his parents' deaths. The story is set in the fictional Hyborian Age, thousands of years before the rise of modern civilization. The film opens with the title card, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger", a paraphrasing of Friedrich Nietzsche, followed by a voice-over that establishes the film as the story of Conan's origin.
Director
Garbo (1992)
, 1h40Directed by Ron Cobb
Actors Max Cullen, Gerard Kennedy, Moya O'Sullivan, Tommy Dysart
Rating52%
Producer
The Last Starfighter (1984)
, 1h36Directed by Nick Castle
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Comic science fiction
Themes Space adventure films, Films about computing, Jeu, Comedy science fiction films, Films about video games, Space opera
Actors Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Catherine Mary Stewart, Dan O'Herlihy, Norman Snow, Kay E. Kuter
Roles Production Designer
Rating66%
Alex Rogan is a teenager living in a trailer park with his mother and little brother, Louis. Alex often plays Starfighter, an arcade game in which the player defends "the Frontier" from "Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada" in a space battle. He becomes the game's highest-scoring player, and is approached by the game's inventor, Centauri, who invites him to take a ride. Alex does so, discovering the car is a spacecraft. Centauri is an alien who takes him to the planet Rylos. An android duplicate named Beta takes Alex's place during his absence.
Art
Southland Tales (2007)
, 2h25Directed by Richard Kelly
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Action, Adventure, Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Themes Films about religion, Films about sexuality, Time travel films, Bisexuality-related films, LGBT-related films, Films set in the future, Political films, Dystopian films, Alternate history films, LGBT-related films, Disaster films, LGBT-related film
Actors Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Prinze, Mandy Moore, Miranda Richardson, Wallace Shawn
Roles Production Design
Rating52%
On July 4th, 2005, in a fictionalized United States alternate history reality, two towns in Texas: El Paso and Abilene were destroyed by twin nuclear attacks that triggered a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions, sending America into a state of anarchy and hysteria, as well as a Third World War (a fictionalized perspective of what the War on Terror would've escalated to). The PATRIOT Act has extended authority to a new agency known as US-IDent, which keeps constant surveillance on citizens—even to the extent of censoring the Internet and requiring fingerprints to access computers and bank accounts. In response to the recent fuel shortage in the wake of global warfare, the German company Treer designs a generator of inexhaustible energy, which is propelled by the perpetual motion of ocean currents, called "Fluid Karma". However, its inventor Baron von Westphalen and his associates are hiding the fact that the generators alter the ocean's currents and cause the Earth to slow its rotation, and that the transmission of Fluid Karma to portable receivers (via quantum entanglement) is ripping holes in the fabric of space and time.
The 6th Day (2000)
, 2h3Directed by Roger Spottiswoode
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Action
Themes Clonage, Films set in the future
Actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Rapaport, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rooker, Sarah Winter, Robert Duvall
Roles Assistant Art Director
Rating59%
In the near future, the cloning of animals and human organs has become routine. Cloning entire humans, however, is prohibited by what are known as "Sixth Day" laws. Billionaire Michael Drucker, owner of cloning corporation Replacement Technologies, hires charter pilot Adam Gibson and partner Hank Morgan for a ski trip. Due to Drucker's prominence, the two must first undergo blood and eye tests to verify their aptitude. On the day of Drucker's arrival, Adam finds that his family dog Oliver has died, and Hank offers to fly Drucker instead to allow Adam time to have the pet cloned. After visiting a "RePet" shop, he remains unconvinced.
Space Truckers (1997)
, 1h37Directed by Stuart Gordon
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Adventure, Comic science fiction
Themes Space adventure films, Transport films, Trucker films, Comedy science fiction films, Films set in the future, Road movies, Space opera
Actors Stephen Dorff, Dennis Hopper, Debi Mazar, Charles Dance, George Wendt, Michael G. Hagerty
Roles Concept Artist
Rating54%
At a corporation's base on the Neptunian moon Triton, mercenaries are setting up a defense perimeter to try to hold off an unstoppable cyborg warrior. The commander, Nabel, seals himself inside the control room. The cyborg destroys the soldiers' tank and then attacks a helicopter—which crashes into the control room. The soldiers are killed one by one, until Nabel finally deactivates the cyborg with a remote control. The remaining corporate employees discover that the cyborg was created by company owner E.J. Saggs. Saggs arrives at the base just as the battle ends, and takes the remote from Nabel. He reactivates the cyborg and orders it to kill Nabel.
Total Recall (1990)
, 1h53Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure
Themes Films about altered memories, Space adventure films, Films about computing, Medical-themed films, Transport films, Mars in film, Films based on science fiction novels, Films set in the future, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities, Political films, Films based on works by Philip K. Dick, Road movies, Cyberpunk films, Dystopian films, Space opera, Chase films, Anticipation
Actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Ronny Cox, Dean Norris
Roles Concept Artist
Rating74%
In 2084, Earthbound construction worker Douglas Quaid is having troubling dreams about Mars and a mysterious woman there. His wife Lori dismisses the dreams and discourages him from thinking about Mars, where the governor, Vilos Cohaagen, is fighting rebels while searching for a rumored alien artifact located in the mines. At "Rekall", a company that provides memory implants of vacations, Quaid opts for a memory trip to Mars as a secret agent fantasy. However, during the procedure, before the memory is implanted, something goes wrong, and the story diverges between the question of what is real and what is hallucination. Apparently, Quaid starts revealing previously suppressed memories of actually being a secret agent. The company sedates him, wipes his memory of the visit, and sends him home. On the way home, Quaid is attacked by his friend Harry and some construction coworkers; he is forced to kill them, revealing elite fighting-skills. He is then attacked in his apartment by Lori, who reveals that she was never his wife; their marriage was just a false memory implant and Cohaagen sent her as an agent to monitor Quaid. He is then attacked and pursued by armed thugs led by Richter, Lori's real husband and Cohaagen's operative.
The Abyss (1989)
, 2h19Directed by James Cameron
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Underwater action films, Submarine films, Children's films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Disaster films, Films about seafaring accidents or incidents
Actors Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, J. C. Quinn, Leo Burmester, Todd Graff
Roles Conceptual Design
Rating74%
In 1988 a US ballistic missile submarine, the USS Montana, sinks near the edge of the Cayman Trough after an accidental encounter with an unidentified submerged object. As Soviet ships and submarines head toward the area in an attempt to salvage the sub, and with a hurricane moving in, the Americans decide that the quickest way to mount a rescue is to insert a SEAL team onto the Deep Core, a privately owned, experimental underwater oil drilling platform, located 1,700 feet (518 meters) below sea level, which will serve as their base of operations. The designer of the platform, Dr. Lindsey Brigman, insists on accompanying the SEAL team, even though her estranged husband, Virgil "Bud" Brigman, is currently serving as the platform's foreman.
Leviathan (1989)
, 1h38Directed by George Cosmatos
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Horror
Themes Films about animals, Seafaring films, Transport films, Underwater action films, Natural horror films, Political films
Actors Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson, Héctor Elizondo
Roles Production Design
Rating58%
Martin, CEO of Tri-Oceanic Corp, hires geologist Steven Beck to command an undersea mining operation for six months. While working outside their deep sea station in a pressure suit, one of the crewmembers, Sixpack, discovers a Soviet shipwreck, Leviathan.
Aliens (1986)
, 2h17Directed by James Cameron, Stan Winston
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Horror
Themes Films about children, Space adventure films, Feminist films, Monde imaginaire, Dans l'espace, Sur une planète fictive, Films set in the future, Films about extraterrestrial life, Political films, Space opera, Children's films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Robot films
Actors Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, James Remar, Bill Paxton, William Hope
Roles Conceptual Design
Rating83%
Ellen Ripley is rescued after drifting through space in stasis for 57 years. She is debriefed by her employers at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation over the destruction of her ship, the Nostromo; they are skeptical of her claims that an Alien killed the ship's crew and forced her to destroy the ship.
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
, 2h5Directed by John Milius
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Themes Films about slavery, Films about magic and magicians
Actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Sandahl Bergman, Cassandra Gava, Mako Iwamatsu, Valérie Quennessen
Roles Production Design
Rating68%
Wizard of the Mounds Conan the Barbarian is a film about a young barbarian's quest to avenge his parents' deaths. The story is set in the fictional Hyborian Age, thousands of years before the rise of modern civilization. The film opens with the title card, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger", a paraphrasing of Friedrich Nietzsche, followed by a voice-over that establishes the film as the story of Conan's origin.
Alien (1979)
, 1h57Directed by Ridley Scott
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Horror
Themes Space adventure films, Monde imaginaire, Dans l'espace, Sur une planète fictive, Films set in the future, Films about extraterrestrial life, Space opera, Children's films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Robot films
Actors Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm
Roles Concept Artist
Rating84%
The commercial spacecraft Nostromo is on a return trip to Earth with a seven-member crew in stasis. Detecting a mysterious transmission, possibly a distress signal, from a nearby planetoid, the ship's computer, MOTHER, awakens the crew. Following standard company policy for such situations, the Nostromo lands on the planetoid and Captain Dallas, Executive Officer Kane, and Navigator Lambert head out to investigate. They discover the signal is coming from a derelict alien spacecraft. Inside, they find the remains of a large alien creature whose ribcage appears to have exploded from the inside.
Team
, 1h34Genres Drama
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Arthur Dignam, Mark Lee, Heather Mitchell, John Meillon, Alex Broun, Paul Goddard
Roles Thanks
Rating55%
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
, 1h55Directed by Steven Spielberg
Origin USA
Genres Fantastic, Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Themes Films set in Africa, Political films, Children's films
Actors Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott
Roles Production Artist
Rating79%
In 1936, archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) braves an ancient booby-trapped temple in Peru and retrieves a golden idol. He is confronted by rival archaeologist René Belloq (Paul Freeman) and the indigenous Hovito people. Surrounded and outnumbered, Jones is forced to surrender the idol to Belloq and escapes aboard a waiting floatplane.
Dark Star (1974)
, 1h23Directed by John Carpenter
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Comedy, Adventure, Comic science fiction
Themes Space adventure films, Dans l'espace, Comedy science fiction films, Films set in the future, Space opera
Actors Dan O'Bannon, Nick Castle, John Carpenter
Roles Special Effects
Rating61%
In the mid 22nd century, mankind has reached a point in technological advancement that enables colonization of the far reaches of the universe. Armed with artificially intelligent "Thermostellar Triggering Devices", the scout ship "Dark Star" and its crew have been alone in space for twenty years on a mission to destroy "unstable planets" which might threaten future colonization of other planets.