Hal Hickel joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1996 as an animator for The Lost World: Jurassic Park, bringing with him a special interest in animation that lies in the challenge of integrating fantastic characters and creatures into live-action films. He quickly made a name for himself, being promoted to Lead Animator on his second film, where he was responsible for animating several characters in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.
As his career continued to flourish, Hickel moved up to Animation Supervisor in 2000, teaming up with multi-Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren on Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence. His work on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in 2007 was recognized with both an Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Effects and the BAFTA for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, cementing his reputation as a master of his craft.
Hickel's impressive portfolio continued to grow, as he took on the role of Animation Supervisor on Guillermo del Toro's sci-fi epic, Pacific Rim, for which he received his fifth BAFTA nomination and a Visual Effects Society Nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects. Prior to that, he was the Animation Director on ILM's first animated feature, Rango, which received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Hickel studied Film Graphics at the California Institute of the Art before being hired by Will Vinton Studios as a clay animator and motion-control operator for commercials and television specials featuring the California Raisins, amongst other characters.
