'Guardians Of The Galaxy 3' Has Managed To Beat A World Record Held By Jim Carrey's 'The Grinch'

Movies have moved on from reality to incorporate VFX in as many frames as possible. From the background to an obscure detail that probably lasted a few seconds on the screen, VFX artists are being worked overtime. Just when we thought the good old days of practical effects were over and everything could be conjured with some clicks of buttons, the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 has broken a significant record. 

The director of the Marvel superhero movie, James Gunn, took to Twitter to share the film's feat. "Just heard from our makeup folks at @LegacyEffects that yesterday #GotGVol3 officially passed the World Record for 'the most makeup appliances created for a single production.'" The record was previously held by the Jim Carrey starrer, The Grinch. Gunn added, "Congrats, guys! Thanks for keeping practical effects alive!" It is still unclear how the record was achieved and if there is a number the Guardians of the Galaxy film overtook to snatch the top spot.

"I think the studios would love to get rid of practical [effects]. They’d love to get rid of actors," Jose Fernandez of Ironhead Studio, who has built creatures and costumes for films like Planet of the Apes and the Batman films, has said in the past. The fear of becoming outdated has been gaining speed over the years in the practical effects industry and among the makeup artists community as well. The news of a high-profile film such as Guardians of the Galaxy taking physical effects seriously and incorporating them into films is good news, assurance that there is still hope.

As per CBR, in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, a team of 50 makeup artists had to be recruited to apply about 1,250 prosthetics between the main characters and alien extras on set. Drax the Destroyer alone had several prosthetics that he would wear at any given time and it was a painstaking application process. The same was the case with Carrey's Grinch as well. He described the process as "being buried alive every day" since it took eight and a half hours in total and involved putting on the facial prosthetics, being encased head-to-toe in green yak fur, and enlarged contact lenses, as per Dazed Digital. Carrey's make-up artist had the toughest job of them all.

We still do not have stats about the makeup artists working on the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 film that is set to hit theaters on May 23, 2023. Disney's The Mandalorian used as many physical effects as possible and fans appreciated it. The fans who have been hoping to see more physical effects in movies will probably enjoy it in the Guardians of the Galaxy as well.