Sci-Fi Classics Get A Neon Makeover
This article is more than 2 years old
Once again, the internet has reached deep into its depths and gifted to me something I didn’t know I always needed. We’ve seen no end of clever creativity devoted to the shows and movies and books we love, but this is one that puts a big silly grin on my face because it’s an idea that seems obvious in retrospect, and it’s executed really well. A big GFR tip o’ the hat goes to graphic artist Mr. Whaite, who has created animated gifs that pay homage to many beloved pop culture classics in the form of “neon signs.”
Honestly, I’m slapping myself for not coming up with this idea myself. I’m probably being a little hard on myself though, since I haven’t the foggiest how to go about creating an animated gif. I’d probably end up accidentally decapitating myself if I even tried.
It’s not just the overall concept that I love, but the specifics of how Whaite chooses which elements to represent each film. For Jurassic Park, for instance, he doesn’t make the obvious choice and give us a roaring neon dinosaur. Instead he opts for the iconic vibrating water glass, which looks great in neon form.
For Back to the Future, we don’t need to see the DeLorean hauling ass when we could instead see the twin flame trails and the spinning license plate.
For the three original Star Wars movies, he opts for Artoo projecting the hologram of Leia (up top) for A New Hope and the lumbering Imperial AT-AT walkers for The Empire Strikes Back.
My personal favorite of the Star Wars offerings is his Return of the Jedi art. There’s just something about Vader’s head switching back and forth that cracks me up.
Of course, sometimes the direct approach is best. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see if somebody can make that Ghostbusters one into a real neon sign for me…
