The Chiodo Brothers
The Chiodo Brothers (Stephen, Charles & Edward Chiodo; /kiˈoʊdoʊ/; born in Bronx, raised in Deer Park, New York) are an American trio of sibling special effects artists, specializing in clay modeling, creature creation, stop motion and animatronics. Known for their film Killer Klowns from Outer Space and creating puppets and effects for films such as Critters, Ernest Scared Stupid, and Team America: World Police, the Chiodo brothers created the claymation sequence for the Large Marge scene from Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and the stop-motion elements in the North Pole scenes from Elf.[1] They also created the mouse dioramas featured in the 2010 film Dinner for Schmucks,[2] as well as the stop-motion Stone Age creatures in the Cup Noodles ads from the mid-90s and were puppeteers on The Thundermans. In addition, they produced a puppet segment for the episode of The Simpsons "The Fight Before Christmas" (2010). The band Chiodos was originally named "The Chiodos Bros." after them, before modifying their title slightly.
The Chiodo Bros. | |
|---|---|
 From left to right: Edward Chiodo, John Massari, Charles Chiodo, and Stephen Chiodo | |
| Born | Charles Anthony Chiodo May 24, 1952 Stephen Joseph Chiodo March 2, 1954 Edward Michael Chiodo August 25, 1960 |
| Occupation | Special effects artists |
| Years active | 1982-present |
Their studio has made clay animation segments for five episodes of The Simpsons:
- A parody of Davey and Goliath for "HOMR" (2001).
- Parodies of The California Raisins and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town for "'Tis the Fifteenth Season" (2003).
- A couch gag featuring Gumby for "The Girl Who Slept Too Little" (2005).
- A parody of Wallace and Gromit for "Angry Dad: The Movie" (2011).
- A nightmare sequence parodying Davey and Goliath for "Ned 'n' Edna's Blend Agenda" (2012).
On August 23, 2019, it was announced that the Chiodo Brothers were developing a stop-motion animated adaptation of the book Alien Xmas,[3] written by Stephen Chiodo and Jim Strain,[4] for Netflix with executive producer Jon Favreau. The adaptation, also titled Alien Xmas, was released on Netflix on November 20, 2020.
Credited special effects
- Flicks (1983) – character masks
- Critters (1986) – critter designer and supervisor
- Faerie Tale Theatre (1986, TV series; 1 episode) – models and effects
- RoboCop-6000 SUX commercial (1987, movie)
- Critters 2 (1988) – design and supervision: Chiodo Brothers Production, Inc
- UHF (1988) – Clay Animation: Chiodo Bros. Production
- Monsters (1988, TV series; 1 episode) – monster creator
- Critters 3 (1991) – design and supervision: critters crew
- Rubin and Ed (1991) – creator: Simon the Cat
- Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) – creature effects designer
- Critters 4 (1992) – design and supervision: critters crew
- The Stupids (1996) – stop motion animation: Chiodo Bros
- The Mr. Potato Head Show (1998–1999; 13 episodes) – puppet fabrication
- King Cobra (1999) – creature effects
- Survival Island (2002) – creature effects
- Elf (2003) – stop motion animation supervisor : Chiodo Bros
- Team America: World Police (2004) – puppet supervisor
- The Bite-Sized Adventures of Sam Sandwich (2012, TV series) – lead puppet fabricator
- 1982 (2013, Short) – special effects
- Alien Abduction (2014) – creature design[5]
- Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (2021) - stop motion animation
References
- Desowitz, Bill (November 20, 2020). "'Alien Xmas': Netflix Gets a Retro Holiday Special from Jon Favreau and the Chiodo Brothers". IndieWire. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- Lytal, Cristy (July 25, 2010). "Working Hollywood: Making mice for 'Dinner for Schmucks'". Los Angeles Times.
- Hamman, Cody (August 23, 2019). "Chiodo Bros. Team with Netflix and Jon Favreau for Alien Xmas". Arrow in the Head. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
- Robinson, Tasha (November 24, 2020). "Netflix's Alien Xmas is a reskinned Grinch movie for stop-motion nostalgists". Polygon. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- IMDb.com 2020 - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0158014/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1#special_effects