Jaws The Revenge poster artist Mick McGinty passes away
Mick McGinty, designer and creator of the Jaws The Revenge poster and many other iconic illustrations has sadly died.
Continuing arguably the most recognisable movie poster series of all time is no enviable task but if ever there was a person for the job, it was Mick McGinty. Expanding on the theme of a giant great white shark about to attack unsuspecting swimmers and water skiiers, Mick McGinty brought his artistic talents to what is (currenty) the last of the Jaws films, Jaws The Revenge (1987). Established in the Roger Kastel’s original artwork for Jaws (1975), McGinty’s design shows a large shark exploding from beneath the surface and about to attack who we presume is Ellen Brody, armed with a harpoon.
An alternate version of the poster just used the shark, its head creatively used as the ‘A’ in the word JAWS with photos of the main cast above the credits.
Mick also created posters (one sheets) for live-action /animation classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit and many others but is perhaps best known fr his amazing work on video games, such as Street Fighter 2 on the Super Nintendo (SNES).
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.My Dad was an incredible artist, as everyone knows. And in true artist fashion, he was also never satisfied with his final work. Just a couple weeks ago, he said he needed “just one more hour on a few pieces” in order to “really finish them.” We all knew that just wasn’t true, though. Dad would always come visit our house, see some of the paintings he did for us over the years, and would put his nose about an inch from it and say, “y’know, Jobe, I wish I would have made those blues a little deeper,” or “you know I’d love to just splash a little more shadows on that tree,” or “that really needs a fresh coat of varnish on it.”
McGinty was interviewed for the upcoming Street Fighter II documentary Here Comes A New Challenger, which is currently in the last stages of its funding drive on Indiegogo. It will therefore represent McGinty's final interview. You can catch a part of it in the trailer below, around the 1:15 mark.
You can view more of Mick’s incredible work on his personal website.
Words by Ross Williams
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