An Era Ends: Tippett Studio Closes After Star Wars Legacy

The curtain falls on one of Star Wars' most tactile legacies. Tippett Studio, the Berkeley effects house founded by Phil Tippett, is closing its doors after more than three decades — and with that closure comes a rare, three-day auction of the tools and models that helped shape cinematic history.

From August 28 to 30 the studio’s warehouse will open to collectors and fans. Hundreds of items are going under the hammer: cameras and stop-motion rigs, production materials, concept art, prototypes and finished models. Among the lots are recreations of the dejarik table from the Millennium Falcon, an AT-AT art model based on early designs and signed by Phil Tippett, figures tied to Jabba’s palace, AT-ST pieces, and signed posters from the original trilogy. For anyone who’s ever wanted to hold a piece of galaxy far, far away, this is the closest thing to time travel.

Phil Tippett’s name is woven into the original trilogy. He began as an animator at Industrial Light & Magic and helped bring to life the creatures playing dejarik in A New Hope. He animated the stop-motion AT-AT walkers stomping across Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back and later led the creature shop for Return of the Jedi, crafting many of the aliens that populate Jabba’s court. Those early career moments predate the studio, yet many of the artifacts on offer trace directly to them.

Tippett Studio formally opened in 1984 and over the years built a reputation beyond Star Wars. The company contributed to RoboCop, Starship Troopers and — most notably — Jurassic Park, where Tippett and his team helped shepherd the industry from traditional stop-motion into the era of computer-generated animation. It was not just a workshop; it was a bridge between two ways of making movie magic.

The relationship with Star Wars didn’t end with the original films. Years later Tippett’s team reconstructed the dejarik creatures for The Force Awakens and then partnered with Disney+ on projects such as The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Skeleton Crew, most recently contributing to The Mandalorian and Grogu. Now, as the studio dissolves, those decades of craftsmanship are being dispersed to new owners — museums, private collectors, and perhaps a few living rooms.

What does it mean when the machines that once animated giants and aliens are put up for sale? For fans it’s a bittersweet reminder that movie history is both fragile and marketable. For collectors it’s an opportunity. For the rest of us, it’s a moment to stop and appreciate how many hands and how much invention went into the scenes we replay endlessly — and to wonder which of these pieces will become tomorrow’s relics.