00:00Thank you, Sylvia, and thank you to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for
00:06honoring Carlo Rimbaldi with this star, and thank you to Chinichita for
00:11sponsoring it, and to Carlo's family, particularly Daniela and Christina. I want
00:20to thank you for inviting me to share some words today. It is such an honor.
00:23Thank you so much. I have so many vivid memories of growing up watching Carlo
00:32Rimbaldi's films on the big screen sitting next to my father, Stan Winston. My
00:38father was always wowed by Carlo's work, not just the artistry of it, but by the
00:44ambition of it, the audacity of character creation that was going on. We marveled
00:51at a 40-foot tall King Kong puppet. We were captivated by aliens and close
00:59encounters of the third kind. We were horrified by H.R. Giger's xenomorph that
01:05Carlo helped bring to life for alien, and most of all, most of all, we loved E.T.
01:13E.T. blew my father's mind. The way Carlo combined traditional puppetry and suit performance with
01:26state-of-the-art animatronics to bring together a character that truly seemed alive and not a
01:34special effect. This changed the way my father approached his own craft. The techniques became
01:40invisible, and using all of them you could create realism, expressiveness, and
01:46innovation in a way that was truly magic. When I thought about what I wanted to get
01:56across most here today, it's the word gratitude. My gratitude, along with millions of film fans
02:04around the world for the joy, the wonder, the horror of Carlo's creations, the practical effects and
02:12special effects industry's gratitude for Carlo's inspirational life as this Leonardo da Vinci.
02:21And yes, he was actually Italian, so that metaphor works as both an artist and as a mechanical engineer, and
02:28my
02:28father Stan Winston's gratitude. So much of what Carlo did inspired Stan and his team.
02:35Without a 40-foot-tall Carlo Rambaldi King Kong, would there have been a 40-foot-long Stan Winston T
02:43-Rex in
02:44Jurassic Park? Maybe not. If there hadn't been a xenomorph, an alien, would there have been an alien queen in
02:53and aliens? I don't know. And most of all, if there had not been an E.T., could any of
02:59us have imagined that an
03:01animatronic character could not only carry a film, but capture the heart of the entire world?
03:10Daniela and Christina and the family, we share something very unique. We know what it's like to have a father
03:18and a
03:19grandfather who created things that have become part of other people's lives. And I want to thank the Rambaldis for
03:28all the
03:29characters that Carlo gave to the Winston family's lives. This star is very overdue and so very well deserved.
03:37I know Stan would have been honored to be here paying tribute himself. He and Carlo are here. Viva Carlo
03:45Rambaldi. Thank you.
