Summary
- Resurgence of practical special effects, including puppetry, animatronics, and CGI in films like The Legend of Ochi.
- Cute characters like Grogu in The Mandalorian are capturing public hearts with puppetry and animatronics.
- Ochi, a primate-like creature in Carpathia, is brought to life through detailed animatronics by director Isaiah Saxon.
Incredibly cute creature features are firmly back on the table thanks to the resurgence of a once popular technique primarily used in films from the 1980s and 1990s. A new featurette released for the upcoming A24 fantasy adventure, The Legend of Ochi spotlights how the use of incredible puppetry, animatronics and CGI brought the adorable titular baby to life.
The artistry of practical special effects, including puppetry and animatronics, played a huge part in the classic Star Wars trilogy, and iconic Amblin films such as Gremlins, E.T. and Jurassic Park, along with The Jim Henson Company films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. However, this practical art form seemingly disappeared from the silver screen, primarily due to the rise of visual effects.
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However, recent installments in the Star Wars franchise – along with films such as Dungeons and Dragons, Five Nights at Freddy’s, M3gan and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – have all incorporated puppetry and animatronics to great success. Loveable characters such as The Mandalorian’s Grogu, Babu Frik and the Anzellans, Ahsoka’s Loth-Cat, Skeleton Crew’s Neel and Kh’ymm and Dungeon and Dragon’s fan-favorite character Jarnathan have certainly captured the hearts of the public, something which the adorable ochi is also set to do.
Who and what is Ochi?
The incredibly cute blue-faced creature with fuzzy orange fur is a primate-like species called Ochis – think a cross between Grogu and Gizmo. The species are located in the fantastical world of Carpathia, communicate via warbled singing and are omnivorous, with A24’s tie-in field guild stating that insects such as the abundant Carpathian box beetle are their major food source.
Unfortunately, the species has long been hunted and persecuted by the humans of Carpathia, known as the Cossacks. This is thought to be due to the species being blamed for biting a young boy named Razvan Patrenko, who unfortunately died afterward. Months after the incident, the species became known as “The Vampire Apes of Carpathia”.
In an interview with Variety, director Isaiah Saxon confirmed that the main inspiration for Ochi’s initial character design were “the endangered primates in the remote mountains of China called the snub-nosed golden monkey,” along with “various tarsiers and lemurs”.
What is The Legend of Ochi about?
The upcoming A24 family fantasy film centers on a young farm girl named Yuri (Helena Zengel) who lives in a remote village on the fictitious island of Carpathia. Raised by her hunter father Maxim (Willem Dafoe) to fear the forest-dwelling ochi species, Yuri defies his teachings when she discovers the titular wounded orphan ochi and sets off on a magical quest to help reunite him with his family.
“Growing up, I felt the deepest mysteries were found in nature and I hope to share that same feeling, that anything is possible,” the director shared in the new featurette. Primarily utilising real-life locations, The Legend of Ochi was filmed in various countryside spots in the southeastern Europe country of Romania. The famous Transfăgărășan Road – one of the most scenic mountain drives in the world – along with the Apuseni Mountains, Carpathian Mountains and Bâlea Lake, are reportedly some of the key filming locations utilized.
How director Isaiah Saxon and a team of puppeteers brought Ochi to life
Once Saxon had the initial character design nailed, the director worked with John Nolan Studios in London to develop the animatronics of Ochi. “Even with the first prototype, despite having no facial movement or fur and with five puppeteers looming above, it immediately felt completely alive,” Saxon told Variety.
In a post on X, the director shared videos of the incredibly detailed animatronics of the baby ochi’s face and hands, along with the first full puppet test, commenting that Karl Gallivan at John Nolan Studios designed the outstanding animatronics.
The director also revealed in the recent featurette that an incredible five puppeteers are operating the baby ochi puppet. The choreography for the puppetry and suit performance has been guided by primate choreographer, Peter Elliott, who is considered one of the most experienced creature movement directors in the film industry. Elliott has previously worked on films such as Return to Oz, Gorillas in the Mist and Tarzan.
“All of the ochi are entirely practical in-camera performances except for a handful of CG stunt shots. We never augmented the animatronic ochi performances with CG” Saxon told Variety, “but every shot of Baby Ochi is ultimately a VFX shot because we had to remove the puppeteers and replace the backgrounds which they overlapped.”
With A24’s Death of a Unicorn and The Legend of Ochi both utilising puppetry and animatronics to bring their creatures to life – along with plenty of Lucasfilm titles – hopefully this rise in old-school practical effects will long continue on both the small and big screen.
Directed by Isaiah Saxon, the film stars Helena Zengel, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson and Willem Dafoe.
The Legend of Ochi is released in US cinemas on Friday, April 25, 2025.
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