Drew Struzan - Legends of Movie Poster Art vol.3
A tribute to one of the great movie poster artists.
Drew Struzan was born in 1947 in Oregon City, Oregon. He studied illustration at the Art Center College of Design in California, he graduated with honors and a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Struzan started working on movie poster art in the mid-70’s, but it was his poster design for the re-release of Star Wars in 1978 (working with fellow artist Charles White III) that really gave his career a boost. Dubbed “the circus poster”, after they discovered that there wasn’t enough room on the original poster for the actors and crew names, they expanded it by making it look like the original artwork was an old torn poster stuck to a wall.
Continuing his association with George Lucas, Struzan designed a logo for the effects studio ILM, he worked on the posters for both the Star Wars saga and Indiana Jones movies.
He also produced new poster artwork for the Special Editions of the original Star Wars trilogy, he later created the movie posters for Star Wars prequels The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
By the late 90’s traditional poster art was on the decline and digitally composed photo montages on posters were popular with studios. Struzan started looking elsewhere for work such as comic books,
His work has appeared on US Postage stamps, on board games and Franklin Mint collectible plates.
He retired in 2008
In 2010 a documentary was produced on his life and work: Drew: The Man Behind the Poster, it includes interviews with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro and was directed by Erik Sharkey.
There have been various books on his work including The Movie Posters of Drew Struzan (2004), The Art of Drew Struzan (2010) and Drew Struzan: Oeuvre (2011).
Selected Filmography –
1976 – Food of the Gods
1977 – Empire of the Ants
1977 – Star Wars (1978 re-issue)
1981 – The Cannonball Run
1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 – ET the Extraterrestrial
1982 - I the Jury
1982 – Blade Runner
1982 – The Thing
1983 – Risky Business
1983 – To Be or Not to Be
1983 - Under Fire
1984 - Dreamscape
1984 - Johnny Dangerously
1984 – Police Academy
1984 – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
1985 – The Goonies
1985 – Back to the Future
1985 – Return to Oz
1985 - Ladyhawke
1986 – Big Trouble in Little China
1986 - The Name of the Rose
1986 – An American Tail
1987 – Adventures in Babysitting
1987 – Batteries Not Included
1988 – Coming to America
1988 - Sunset
1989 – Harlem Nights
1989 – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1989 – Back to the Future II
1990 – Back to the Future III
1991 – Hook
1995 - Cutthroat Island
1999 – Star Wars I The Phantom Menace
2001 – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (US poster)
2002 - Star Wars II Attack of the Clones
2004 - Hellboy
2005 - Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith
