To capture the uniquely Star Wars-y essence of Skeleton Crew, the creators enlisted an army of talented artists and craftsmen to bring to life a galaxy teeming with never-before-seen creatures and droids, blending groundbreaking practical effects with visionary design to immerse viewers in a fresh yet familiar adventure. This meticulous effort was essential to evoke the classic Star Wars feel while telling a coming-of-age story through the eyes of four children lost in the galaxy, making the series a standout blend of nostalgia and innovation within the franchise.
Finding the tone of the show’s action-adventure, at least, was easy. “I think we are pretty good at being able to write at a 10-year-old level,” laughs co-creator Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Far From Home).
It helped that Watts and co-creator Christopher Ford weren’t setting out to make a Star Wars movie, so much as they were following George Lucas’ mission: to tell the type of story they loved and have it just so happen to be set in the Star Wars universe. For Skeleton Crew, that meant pulling from “obscure ’30s pirate serials” along with swashbuckling epics for the pirate side of the story. And they looked to Amblin classics like E.T. and their own childhoods to find the spirit of adventure and carefully calibrated peril.
“When we were that age, when we would go out and play – [that sense of danger is] what we were playing,” Ford told AELGAMES at a junket in November. “And that’s what these kids want, that adventure. They seek it out.”
Ultimately the thing that informed Skeleton Crew’s voice the most was finding the right kids. “You have a sense of who you want the kids to be in your mind. But then it’s not until our actual cast walks through the door, and you meet them and you get to spend time with them, that you realize: These kids are these characters,” Watts says. “Once they were cast, we went back into all of our scripts and punched them up to be a little more in the voice of the actual kids.”
Maintaining that authentic energy of the children was important – so important that Ford, Watts, and other Skeleton Crew creatives had to move heaven, Earth, and a fair bit of VFX to make space for it.
The main problem came with Neel, played by 10-year-old Robert Timothy Smith, but appearing on screen as a blue, elephant-like alien. “It was really important to create an environment where the kids were free to just be natural and stay feeling like kids,” Ford says. But preserving that freedom, he laughs, did take an “army of special effects people behind it to make that happen. But the core of it was still going to be this kid and his performance, and his dynamic with the other kids.”
The process was inspired by another ’80s classic, Big, where Tom Hanks would watch the younger actor playing his role do the scene first, and then mimic his choices in his side of the kid-in-a-grown-up-body performance. Ford and Watts would let Smith do multiple takes with no mask on, but with a camera recording his face and a bodysuit that included blue gloves like Neel’s hands. (“He loved the gloves; he was always doing weird things with his hands because of that,” Watts remembers, mimicking a pinching motion.) Then the “suit performer” would come in, wearing the animatronic Neel head, and mimic Smith’s choices in the scene.
“And then in post we had the option of using one take or the other take – or a combination of the two where we would use Robert’s facial performance and map it onto the animatronic, or use Robert’s body performance and then put the animatronic head on his physical body,” Watts says. “So it kind of just maximized our options in post to the end goal of just trying to capture the choices that Robert would.”
It was certainly harder than just hitting hyperspace. But it felt important – for Skeleton Crew and Neel, sure, but also just for Smith. “The decisions that a 10-year-old kid makes in the moment in a scene are just like – you’ll never guess what they’re going to do. They’re always surprising you,” Watts says. “So you just try to create an environment where you can maximize those real surprises and find a way to make sure you capture them on film.”
How did they assemble an ’army’ to achieve that Star Wars-y look in Skeleton Crew
To achieve the distinct Star Wars-y look of Skeleton Crew, the creators assembled a vast and skilled team-an “army”-that combined traditional practical effects with cutting-edge visual effects. They brought in legendary talents like stop-motion animator Phil Tippett and even coaxed an ILM matte painter out of retirement to incorporate classic analog techniques that give the series its authentic, tactile feel. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), with over 1,300 artists across multiple global offices, played a central role by prioritizing real objects and practical effects on set, such as meticulously built miniature ships and animatronics, which were then enhanced in post-production to maintain the original trilogy’s signature look and emotional tone. This approach required painstaking, iterative work, including multiple takes with motion control cameras to capture the slow, deliberate movements reminiscent of the original films. The sound design was equally bespoke, layering millions of sounds to create an immersive experience true to Star Wars’ legacy. All these efforts were overseen closely to ensure the final product felt both nostalgic and fresh, embodying George Lucas’s vision while allowing the young cast’s genuine performances to shine.
How did the creative team use practical effects to build the ’army’ look in Skeleton Crew
The creative team behind Skeleton Crew used a sophisticated blend of practical effects and puppetry to build the “army” look that feels distinctly Star Wars-y. For example, the droid SM-33 was realized through a combination of a practical suit and puppet, using clever techniques like two-way glass painted to look like solid metal but allowing the performer inside to see and navigate the set, maximizing performance while maintaining a realistic appearance. This Bunraku-style puppet approach allowed for nuanced, expressive interactions on set, with off-camera radio control enhancing facial expressions and head movements.
For the character Neel, Legacy Effects crafted an animatronic head capable of a wide range of expressions, which was used in about 60% of shots with minimal digital cleanup, preserving the tactile, puppet-like aesthetic. Digital effects were then subtly applied to elevate emotional moments without losing the practical feel.
Additionally, practical sets and physical elements like ground surfaces and a security droid puppet were used on set to anchor the actors’ performances in tangible environments, while extensive blue screen work allowed for vast digital extensions. This careful balance of real and digital created a seamless illusion that honors the classic Star Wars aesthetic, combining handcrafted artistry with modern technology to bring the world and its creatures to life.
