Arnold Goldman

>>> INTERVIEW BY MATT ZIMMER THETHE MMONSTERONSTER MMAKERAKER FOR ALMOST TWO DECADES NOW, The Monster Makers— Arnold Goldman’s family-owned FX supply company based in Ohio—has been providing materials, inspiration, and hearty doses of guidance and encouragement to a wide cross-section of experienced FX pros and young artists alike. For Arnold and his wife Kimberly, the real joy in their business comes from helping people achieve their creative visions, especially when it comes to latex maskmaking. HorrorShow: Tell us about your early inspirations and how bronze figurines on display, and they reminded me of those it all got started for you. full-size bronzes from the museum. So, every year for my Arnold Goldman: Well, when I think back on how I got into birthday, my dad would buy me a few of these plastic-injected this industry, three things instantly come to mind: art, mon- armies-in-a-box that came all connected on tree sprues; and ster movies, and toy figures. And, beginning at around the age of course you’d have to break them apart from the sprues and of five or six, my parents could see that I had a knack for art, clean off the little bits of flashing before you could start having and they decided to foster those abilities by enrolling me in fun with them. Nonetheless, it was the way they were arranged classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art. For anyone who is not in the box that gave me a clue that there was some sort of pro- familiar with the museum here, it is a treasure trove of master- cess involved in making the figures. works and houses a large, permanent collection of sculpture I remember being very curious about this “process,” which and fine art works from many of the world’s greatest artists, my dad must have known something about since he worked and it is still recognized as one of the premier museums in the in the plastics industry as a chemical buyer. At some point my country. father took me to a flea market where we stumbled upon a toy At any rate, I vividly recall sitting on the floor amongst called “Mold Master,” which was made by Kenner. The answer all these amazing works of art while I set to work drawing to how my plastic soldiers were made was to be revealed right or painting whatever I pleased. If you can imagine being so there in that box. My dad knew it was the perfect toy for me. young and being surrounded by the works of Rembrandt, With Mold Master I could make my own plastic soldiers. Picasso, Rodin, and so much other extraordinary art, it does The set came with a rudimentary plastic injection system, leave a big impression. I don’t think I could’ve understood the which also included a little melt tower and plunger. There importance of this kind of art at that time, but it did have an were also little beads of a wax/plastic composite (probably El- enormous impact on me—so much so that I now take my own vax and micro wax) and a bunch of soldier molds that you daughter there, who is the same age today that I was when I could squirt the melted plastic into. I remember the process attended those classes nearly 40 years ago. I remember those well—melting and remelting that plastic and injecting it into classes so well, and would you believe that they still take the the molds. Thinking back now, I realize what a huge thing it kids out into the museum to sit amongst the masters and allow was for me to make that connection at such a young age. I them to create their own art? could actually make my own characters! (As luck would have Around the same time as the art classes, my father noticed it, a few years back I spotted a nearly flawless copy of Mold that I was completely fascinated by toy figures, and he would Master in a toy collector’s shop, which I of course purchased often buy me soldiers and all sorts of little characters. The art immediately. And it still works!) museum had a great selection of small, beautifully detailed HS: In addition to the monster making sets, what other toys HORRORSHOW Right: Close-up of Snarly mask by Arnold Goldman THETHE MMONSTERONSTER MMAKERAKER HORRORSHOW Two different angles of the Blood Slayer mask were you into at that point in the ’60s? early ’70s (he became the primetime announcer for ABC TV), AG: My obsession was with toy figures, so anything that had his successor, “The Ghoul,” took over the slot and I became figures involved was something I was definitely interested in. I hooked on monster movies for the next decade or so into my recall having Rock’em-Sock’em Robots, G.I. Joes, Major Matt mid-teens. Mason, and lots and lots of army men. My interest in monster movies inevitably led me to maga- But later on I graduated from Mold Master to “Thing Mak- zines like Creepy and Eerie and also Famous Monsters of Film- er,” “The Strange Change Machine,” “Creepy Crawlers,” and land, where I first got wind of movie makeup artists. Surpris- “Incredible Edibles,” along with an assortment of monster ingly, though, I never became interested in doing makeup per making sets. Some of your older readers will remember all se, but as I began to learn the details of the process used to those whacked-out toy making sets. They were so cool, and I make movie monsters I did become interested in the sculptural remember saving my allowance to be able to get the latest and and moldmaking aspects of the art. Detailed information was greatest set-up. I also remember those vending machines in hard to come by back then, and materials were just as scarce, the ’60s and ’70s that allowed you to watch as a wax figure was so I never got the opportunity to experiment at that time. made right before your eyes inside the machine. You would It wasn’t until I got into college that any of these early influ- insert your coins and select the figure that you wanted. The ences began to surface again. In college they had a small bronze machine would then move into action and pour the melted foundry, which was exactly the kind of process I could relate wax/plastic composite (again, probably a blend of micro wax to. I wanted to learn how to make bronze sculptures, just like and Elvax) into a mold, and in a few minutes the mold sepa- the figures I had seen as a child in the museum. But the sculp- rated and out popped your character at the bottom of the ma- ture teacher, unfortunately, had other ideas. He wanted us to chine. I just ate all this stuff up, and I loved making my own make “artistic statements” with our pieces. This was a concept toy figures. The process especially intrigued me with all the that did not fit in at all with my ideas. I was purely focused various polymers that were used. So my exposure to art and its on process and technique, which was primary in my mind. In relationship to toy figure making were really what shaped my the professor’s mind, however, process was a distant second to interest early in life for three-dimensional art and how it was making a statement. He was apparently trying to mold every- created. For me, the mold was quite literally cast at an early one into “artistes” with “something” to say. The only statement age. that I had to make was, “I want to learn everything I can about Once I was old enough to watch them, I really got into the making bronze sculpture.” Sadly, the professor and I did not monster movies. In Cleveland we had Ernie Anderson, a local get along. radio announcer who created one of the first late-night horror Despite this major clash, I was nonetheless able to teach host characters called “Ghoulardi.” I was too young for Ghou- myself the process from start to finish. In bronze making you lardi, but when Anderson left town for greener pastures in the learn many skills that can easily cross over into special effects, HORRORSHOW The Immortal mask by Arnold Goldman HORRORSHOW 4 Side view of Snarly mask HORRORSHOW everything from sculpting in oil-based clay and wax to making have learned the process the way I wanted without doing it my cores, flexible molds, and multi-piece molds. There are some way in that classroom. So I have to say that I am really proud very complex moldmaking skills that are required, and these of that poor grade. I fought hard for it. That was 0 years ago were excellent and challenging things to learn. Best of all, I was now, but to this day I happily wear it as a big badge of distinc- finally pouring wax into molds again, not unlike what I was tion. doing at age six with my little Mold Master set. Another factor that played heavily into my future in the During the year that I had access to the foundry I had sev- SPFX industry was, oddly enough, my time spent in a labora- eral successful pours in bronze. Naturally, the professor dis- tory. While attending college I also worked as a tech in a physi- liked every piece.

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