Robert Swarthe

Robert Swarthe
Born	(1942-09-06) September 6, 1942 (age 83)
Occupation	Special effects artist
Years active	1960-1983

Robert Swarthe (born September 6, 1942) is an American special effects artist who started out directing short films. He has two Academy Award nominations.

Academy Award nominations

• 48th Academy Awards – Nominated in the category of Best Animated Short, Kick Me , lost to Great . ^{[1] [2]}
• 52nd Academy Awards – Nominated in the category of Best Visual Effects, Star Trek: The Motion Picture , nomination shared with John Dykstra, Grant McCune, David K. Stewart, Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yuricich. Lost to Alien . ^[3]

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive preserved Kick Me and The Unicycle Race by Swarthe. ^[4]

Filmography

As director

• Don’t Panic (1960) ^[5]
• Attack of the Sea Beast (1962) ^[5]
• Uncle Walt (1964) ^{[6] [7]}
• Minor Discrepancies (1964) ^[5]
• Vamos Al Cine (1965) ^[5]
• Inglewood Sniper (1966) ^[5]
• The Oil Refinery (1966) ^[8]
• The Unicycle Race (1966)
• One Eye (1967) ^[5]
• K-9000: A Space Oddity (1968) ^[9] with Robert Mitchell ^[10]
• The Thrilling Adventures of the Chameleon in Color (1969) ^[11]
• The Boss (1971) ^[5]
• Radio Rocket Boy (1973) with John Mayer ^[12]
• The Lone Dragnet (1973) ^[13]
• Kick Me (1975) ^[14]
• Ink, Paint, Scratch (1979) ^{[15] [16]}
• Double Suicide (1982) ^[5]

As special effects artist

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
• One from the Heart (1982)
• The Outsiders (1983)

See also

• Biography portal
• Film portal

• Norman Mclaren
• Drawn on film

References

1. "The 48th Academy Awards (1976) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
2. "Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award 1975 -". cartoonresearch.com.
3. "The 52nd Academy Awards (1980) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
4. "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
5. "Search - Arena - academycollection.org". Arena. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
6. Mouseplanet - Disney Cartoons That Aren't Disney by Wade Simpson
7. Lost Short Film “Uncle Walt” Found And Sold On eBay.|Pirates & Princesses
8. "The Oil Refinery » Alternative Projections". www.alternativeprojections.com. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
9. "Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award 1968 -". cartoonresearch.com.
10. Robert Mitchell on IMDB
11. "The Thrilling Adventures of the Chameleon in Color » Alternative Projections". www.alternativeprojections.com. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
12. Cinefantastique (1978). Cinefantastique Vol 07 No 3 & 4 (Fall 1978).
13. "The Lone Dragnet » Alternative Projections". www.alternativeprojections.com. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
14. Kick Me (1975) · Letterboxd
15. "Ink, Paint Scratch » Alternative Projections". www.alternativeprojections.com. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
16. Ink, Paint, Scratch on Internet Archive

External links

• Robert Swarthe at IMDb
• The Lost "Uncle Walt" Short Was Almost Found
• Swarthe's 1964 short Uncle Walt on Internet Archive