History Main / PeopleInRubberSuits

* The Rodents Of Unusual Size from ''Film/ThePrincessBride''.
* A original monster called the Tiburonera( He who hunts sharks!)this creature appears in a short film called “Shallow Water” made by Sandy Collara, he even made the rubber suit himself, stating that practical effects will always have more realism than CGI. No argument there, the creature looks awesome. Here’s the trailer https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=POiPgG2RyGk&index=120&list=WL

** Chewie and the Ewoks count as well.

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* Invoked for the designs of the monsters in ''Anime/SSSSGridman'', which look big enough to hide a person inside and utilize mocap technology to make the movememts appropriately clunky. This is even done in-universe with Anonymous, whose ravenous "B" form hides in the cheap-looking "A" form until it gets sufficiently pissed off.

* The UrExample is probably the 1929 film version of Creator/JulesVerne's ''Literature/MysteriousIsland'', with some really UglyCute [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b6OYnb9cnPY/Uu-XlUz5W8I/AAAAAAAAZUo/SrBg3QV_Idw/s1600/1929c.jpg undersea beings.]]
* The 1936 ''[[Film/FlashGordonSerial Flash Gordon]]'' serial may be the UrExample for {{Kaiju}}, as it featured a man in a suit portraying a giant dragon some 18 years before Toho lit upon the idea.
* Played to great effect in ''Film/{{Predator}}''. The original Predator costume was a rather goofy and awkward lizard; the crew asked for a new monster design very shortly after seeing the original. The designer decided to try something with mandibles...
* In ''Film/KingKong1976'', Creator/JeffBridges' character reacted to the plunderers' initial disbelief upon seeing the giant ape by saying "What do you think it was? A man in an ape suit?"... which is exactly what it looked like, because it was. Played by make-up artist Creator/RickBaker, who wound up uncredited.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** Original footage with Jabba the Hutt, who was actually a ludicrously complex puppet with two full-sized people inside his torso plus a midget in the tail and a team of offscreen operators for his eyes and facial expressions.
** Chewie and the Ewoks count as well.
** And the Droids are men in tin suits.
* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' is an interesting case; Originally, Godzilla was to be animated in stop-motion, like ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms''. Creator/EijiTsuburaya informed the producers that the necessary scenes would take seven years to complete, so he was instead told to create the monster another way. He came up with a new plan: instead of splicing a tiny stop-motion model into live-action footage, make a realistic monster suit and build a set where everything is tiny compared to ''it.'' It worked. Applications of this method in the years after Tsuburaya's death in the Showa period turned out not to be as impressive, however... but they do have their [[NarmCharm charm]].
* ''Film/JurassicPark'' used men in (partial) suits for the ''Velociraptors'' in some shots. The raptor that walks to the fallen Udesky and plunges its sickle-shaped claw into his back in [[Film/JurassicParkIII the third film]] was a man wearing raptor 'pants'.
* Hyde (the EvilTwin of Dr. Jekyll) in ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' movie combines blue screen, forced perspective and a rubber suit so spectacularly obvious that, like much of the movie, it borders on SpecialEffectFailure. (And ''borders'' is a very generous term.)

* In the film ''Film/TheBadAndTheBeautiful'', a director and a producer are assigned to make a low-budget horror film about cat men, who are supposed to be played by people in crappy suits. They declare that "five men dressed like cats look like five men dressed like cats", and they make the film without showing the monsters (a reference to the real classic horror film ''Film/CatPeople'').
* The 1957 movie ''Film/NightOfTheDemon'', directed with dark understated dread by veteran Creator/JacquesTourneur, from a story by horror master Creator/MRJames, was considered by many to be undercut by ExecutiveMeddling insistence on a rubber-suit demon (showing up at the beginning, no less).
* Pearl (the grotesquely obese vampire) from ''Film/{{Blade}}''. It sounds like a grim kid's TV show.
* The Rodents Of Unusual Size from ''Film/ThePrincessBride''.

** Speaking of the sequel, [[ComicBook/SilverSurfer the title character]] in ''[[Film/FantasticFour2005 Rise of the Silver Surfer,]]'' when not entirely CGI, is this trope- particularly when ComicBook/DoctorDoom has stolen his powers and [[CoolBoard cosmic surfboard.]]
* The Xenomorph from ''Film/{{Alien}}''. They are [[NightmareFuel MUCH scarier]] than most people in rubber suits though because they have such a un-human like head (which even requires [[http://static2.keptelenseg.hu/ep/774bc5d4d855561ecffeea27e72076d9.jpg lots of animatronics]]) and body that its hard to tell yourself they're just men in suits. Even more so in the first movie, where the alien was played by a [[EvilIsBigger 7FT 2INCHS TALL]], but [[LeanAndMean slender]]...student. Though in this case they cut down the appearances of the Xenomorph [[NothingIsScarier to the bare minimum]] because otherwise they looked like this trope. In later movies they afford to work more on the movement of the aliens. The VFX supervisor who started playing the Alien in the third movie (including ''Film/AVPAlienVsPredator'') [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0940430/?ref_=sr_2#actor_main made a career out of this.]]

* The Creator/ShawBrothers superhero movie, ''Film/TheSuperInframan'', uses this technique to create it's plethora of monsters, including a tentacled plant elemental, a dragon-man, a rock monster and the BigBad's OneWingedAngel form, which is a huge dragon.
* This technique was used for the HumongousMecha sequences in the ''Series/TekkoukiMikazuki'' film series.
* One early rubber-plus-animatronics example was 1959's ''Film/TheAlligatorPeople'', in which the transformed protagonist's final gator head had a working jaw. Still looked very fake, the moreso because he winds up interacting with an actual alligator.
* In ''Film/NightOfTheLepus'' this is how the '''Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits''' are portrayed when they attack people. The suits...pretty much look nothing like giant bunnies.

* ''Film/OilyManiac'', another Shaw production, uses this method to depict the titular villain, a BlobMonster whose body is composed entirely of crude oil. Incidentally, the monster is played by the same guy (Creator/DannyLee) who was Infra-man!
* ''Film/UnknownIsland'' from 1948 for the Ceratosaurs did this. The Ground sloth was also a suit, but mostly fur and rubber mask.
* ''One Million B.C.'' has one rubber suit dinosaur amidst dozens of {{Slurpasaur}} dinosaurs.

* ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Like Lord of the Rings before it, the live action Narnia films were replete with rubber suits, although to accurately portray the leg structure of the hooved fauns, satyrs and minotaurs, cgi was used in addition to the physical costumes.
* ''Film/ThreeHundred'': Despite the extensive use of cgi, rubber suits were still used for deformed characters such as Ephialtes and the uber-immortal.
* ''Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes'' film had a painfully obvious human in a gorilla suit who killed one of the apes at the zoo.
* A far more convincing gorilla example was Digit in ''Film/GorillasInTheMist''.
* The Penguin in ''Film/BatmanReturns'' has two species of tame penguins helping him. The large emperor penguins are portrayed by little people in suits, and it's very much possible to watch the entire film without catching this.
* Played with in ''Film/TheLastMimzy''. At the beginning, the Scientist's lab gets attacked by two "alien" creatures that look like people in rubber suits. At the end, we learn that they ''were'' people in rubber suits. More specifically, they were people in all-enclosing protective suits because of the poisoned-beyond-repair environment. They shed their costumes [[ATruceWhileWeGawk when they see sunlight for the first time in ages]].

* A few scenes in ''Film/{{Cujo}}'' had Cujo being played by a man in a costume.
* ''Film/HaloNightfall'': Axl the Yonhet is pretty clearly an actor in a costume, in sharp contrast to the film's other aliens, who are all CGI.

* In ''Film/TheFly1986'', the final humanoid stage of the DoomedProtagonist's SlowTransformation into an insectoid monster is realized in this manner as the logical extension of the increasingly elaborate makeups used in earlier scenes. The prospect of having to act through pounds of makeup and rubber put off many big-name actors from taking the role but Creator/JeffGoldblum was up for just such a challenge...and ''became'' a name in the process.

** The Zarbi (First Doctor, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E5TheWebPlanet The Web Planet]]"): giant ''ants'' with two very, very humanoid legs. Future companion Creator/PeterPurves (who played Steven) actually auditioned for the part of a Zarbi, but the casting director was too impressed with him and wanted to spare him the indignity, and promised to have him back when he wanted "a real actor" — which indicates the lack of respect afforded to these parts. (The director stuck to the deal and had Purves back playing a human character for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase "The Chase"]].)

** It's not limited to rubber suits, either — [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E4TheKrotons The Krotons]] from the eponymous Second Doctor serial resemble walking cardboard boxes with a (sometimes spinning) cardboard diamond on top.
** At least once, in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]", the monster (a Wirrn larva) was actually made out of green bubble wrap — but considering that bubble wrap had only just been invented (to the point where it wasn't even called 'bubble wrap' yet), the overall effect worked, if only for about five years after the episode's premiere. Supposedly the bubbles went 'pop-pop-pop' as the extras inched their way across stage reducing cast and crew to hysterics and the sound department to tears. Most of the scenes with the larva are recorded silently with incidental music over the top — if there's dialogue in the scene, a layer of smooth plastic is placed underneath the larva to reduce the likelihood of the bubbles bursting. The Wirrn looks better but, like the Zarbi, is a bipedal insect.

--->'''Chrissie:''' I'm telling you; my ex-husband is being chased by a dwarf in a suit — now I've seen it all!

* ''[[Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular]]'' live show uses it with great effect for raptor-sized predators and a baby T-rex, in combination with animatronics for large dinosaurs.

* Parodied with Chameleon Sr. in ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes''. Despite having a {{Notzilla}}[=-=]esque child that looks exactly like he does, he's actually a ''giant'' in a monster suit.

-->-- '''Harry Knowles''' of ''Ain't It Cool News'' on (classic) ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''

Compare PantomimeAnimal, RubberForeheadAliens. StarringSpecialEffects is a sister trope for animated or puppet creations in live-action films, and it's possible for both tropes to be featured in one movie. Not related to DressedAllInRubber. In-universe examples, if resembling a real animal, can qualify as AnimalDisguise. SerkisFolk can be considered the modern descendant, with the main difference being that the "suit" is added in digital post-production.

* In ''Film/NightOfTheLepus'' this is how the giant killer bunny rabbits are portrayed when they attack people. The suits...pretty much look nothing like giant bunnies.

** The Zarbi (First Doctor, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E5TheWebPlanet The Web Planet]]"): giant ''ants'' with two very, very humanoid legs. Future companion Peter Purves (who played Steven) actually auditioned for the part of a Zarbi, but the casting director was too impressed with him and wanted to spare him the indignity, and promised to have him back when he wanted "a real actor" — which indicates the lack of respect afforded to these parts. (The director stuck to the deal and had Purves back playing a human character for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase "The Chase"]].)

* Parodied with Chameleon Sr. in ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes''. Despite having a {{Notzilla}}-esque child that looks exactly like he does, he's actually a ''giant'' in a monster suit.

* Parodied with Chameleon Sr. in ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes''. Despite having a NotZilla-esque child that looks exactly like he does, he's actually a ''giant'' in a monster suit.

* Invoked for the designs of the monsters in ''Anime/SSSSGridman'', which look big enough to hide a person inside and utilize mocap technology to make the movememts appropritely clunky. This is even done in-universe with Anonymous, whose ravenous "B" form hides in the cheap-looking "A" form until it gets sufficiently pissed off.

* ''Film/TheBraceArcher'' 4 has Yang Guo's pet, a [[GiantFlyer condor the size of a human]], played by a burly extra in a suit.

* During Music/TheAquabats' live shows, they are attacked between songs by various rubber-suited monsters, in addition to obese luchadors and evil milk-men. At least one, Dr. Cyclops ([[GettingCrapPastTheRadar who appears to be a giant, anthropomorphic dildo]]), went on to become a character in the creators' kids show, ''Series/YoGabbaGabba''.

** ''Franchise/KamenRider'' still relies on suits despite being on the air during the reign of three successive Japanese emperors, for both the heroes and villains. The earlier Neo-Heisei[[note]]''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' until ''Series/KamenRiderZiO''[[/note]] seasons rely on two-part episodes to cut down on the costs of creating monsters for a full fifty-ish episode series, plus at least two movies. The later Neo-Heisei series, on the other hand, are less reliant on 'monster of the week' plots and thus require less monsters to be made.

* ''Film/JurassicPark'' used men in (partial) suits for the ''Velociraptors'' in some shots. The raptor that walks to the fallen mercenary and plunges its claw into his back in [[Film/JurassicParkIII the third film]] was a man wearing raptor pants.

** Speaking of the sequel, [[ComicBook/SilverSurfer the title character]] in ''[[Film/FantasticFour2005 Rise of the Silver Surfer,]]'' when not not entirely CGI, is this trope- particularly when ComicBook/DoctorDoom has stolen his powers and [[CoolBoard cosmic surfboard.]]

* The ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'' series of movies (both directed By Guillermo Del Toro) use this technique a lot, and to great effect. In fact, they almost always opt to minimize the use of CGI as much as possible. Granted though, their rubber suits are most often pretty damn advanced (containing heaps of animatronics and whatnot).
** One of the rubber suited actors, Creator/DougJones, built a career out of this, including two other Del Toro movies, ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' (both the Faun and the Thin Man) and ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'' ([[FishPeople "The Asset"]]).

* In ''Film/KingKong1976'', Creator/JeffBridges' character reacted to the plunderers' initial disbelief upon seeing the giant ape by saying "What do you think it was? A man in an ape suit?"... which is exactly what it looked like, because it was.

* The "full-body" Muppet characters ([[Series/SesameStreet Big Bird, Barkley, Mr. Snuffleupagus]], [[Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse Bear]], [[Series/MopatopsShop Mopatop]], [[Series/TheMuppetShow Thog, Sweetums]], [[Series/{{Sesamstrasse}} Samson]], [[Series/{{Sesamstraat}} Pino]], [[Series/PlazaSesamo Abelardo]]) fall into the "not necessarily rubber" category of this trope.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E7TheSensorites The Sensorites]] are people in velour suits, with visible zips.

* During Music/TheAquabats' live shows, they are attacked between songs by various rubber-suited monsters, in addition to obese luchadors and evil milk-men. At least one, Dr. Cyclops (who appears to be a giant, anthropomorphic dildo), went on to become a character in the creators' kids show, ''Series/YoGabbaGabba''.

This is the single most important special effect of all time, bar none. The man in rubber suit technique was Hollywood's original go-to method (and still utilized extensively in {{Toku}}) for portraying the [[RubberForeheadAliens extra-terrestrial invader]], the experiment GoneHorriblyWrong, and [[EldritchAbomination the supernatural terror]] before computer generated effects were a twinkle in a programmer's eye. This is not to say that the method is perfect -- many a great riff has been made at the expense of the [[SpecialEffectsFailure weaker displays of this technique]] -- but even at its lowest the man-in-suit still takes notoriety in the form of NarmCharm. Some special effects artists, such as Creator/RickBaker, built their entire career on this.

Compare PantomimeAnimal, RubberForeheadAliens. StarringSpecialEffects is a sister trope for animated or puppet creations in live-action films, and it's possible for both tropes to be featured in one movie. Not related to DressedAllInRubber. In-universe examples, if resembling a real animal, can qualify as AnimalDisguise.

** For his [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks first-ever]] ''Doctor Who'' story (the second-ever for ''Doctor Who'' generally) Creator/TerryNation invented the Daleks as a way to ''avert'' the trope. They still had ''plungers'' for hands. His [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E5TheKeysOfMarinus second story]] (the fifth aired on ''Doctor Who'') however already featured the Voord, literally, PeopleInRubberSuits. (Possibly. Perhaps the suits have fused with their actual bodies.)

Compare PantomimeAnimal, RubberForeheadAliens. StarringSpecialEffects sometimes overlaps with this trope. Not related to DressedAllInRubber. In-universe examples, if resembling a real animal, can qualify as AnimalDisguise.

Compare PantomimeAnimal, RubberForeheadAliens. Not related to DressedAllInRubber. In-universe examples, if resembling a real animal, can qualify as AnimalDisguise.

* This is the bread and butter of all {{Toku}} superhero shows since Series/UltraQ where the heroes and villains solely exist as people in rubber (or spandex, or leather) suits. Some fans use "suitimation" to describe the use of costumed "suit actors" to portray monsters and heroes alike. In the 2000s, the shows began to mix in some 3D computer-generated animation for when a costume would not suffice, such as for a complex robot combination or a monster with a non-human silhouette.
** The granddaddy of them all, the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' uses nothing but people in rubber suits. Series in the 2010s like ''Series/UltramanOrb'' and ''Series/UltramanGeed'' even have the heroes have forms that can be switched around during fights.

Compare PantomimeAnimal, RubberForeheadAliens. Not related to DressedAllInRubber.

** ''Franchise/KamenRider'' still relies on suits despite being on the air during the reign of three successive Japanese emperors, for both the heroes and villains. The earlier Neo-Heisei[[note]]''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' until ''Series/KamenRiderZiO''[[/note]] seasons rely on two-part episodes to cut down on the costs of creating monsters for a full fifty-ish episode series, plus at least two movies. The later Neo-Heisei series on the other hand are less reliant on 'monster of the week' plots and thus require less monsters to be made.

** The granddaddy of them all, the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' uses nothing but people in rubber suits. Series in the 2010s like ''Series/UltramanOrb'' and ''Series/UltramanGeed'' even have the heroes have forms that can be switched around during fights
** ''Franchise/KamenRider'' still relies on suits despite being on the air during the reign of three successive Japanese emperors, for both the heroes and villains. The modern Heisei(/Reiwa) series rely on two-part episodes to cut down on the costs of creating monsters for a full 50-ish episode series plus at least two movies.