The Astonishing WAR HORSE Animatronic Test Footage

How is this not a real horse? By what magicks have you made this thing come alive?

By Jan. 16, 2012

Back in the 70s Steven Spielberg used an animatronic shark to terrify audiences in Jaws. In 2011 he used an animatronic horse to make audiences weep in War Horse. 

While there is very limited CGI in War Horse, one of the movie's most amazing scenes - when Joey, the titular war horse, is trapped in barbed wire - was created with the aid of a life-size animatronic horse. And this complicated puppet is almost indistinguishable from a real horse... except for the fact that it ceases to exist just below the shoulders. The footage, put on Facebook by senior animatronics technician Chris Clark, is simply astounding, and it's shot in a way that the puppetry of the horse is a reveal, which I think makes it more mind-blowing.

This is the sort of movie magic that gets my blood pumping, not a Dorito-dusted work station where a guy is running physics simulations on particles of dust.

Sadly there's no embed so you must briefly leave our comfortable environs. Click here to watch the video.

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