10/14/2025
To the average person, Drew Struzan isn’t what you would call a household name. He wasn’t a famous actor nor was he an award winning director, but he had an incredibly powerful impact on the world of film nonetheless. Undoubtedly everyone in the world has seen his work or been moved by his craft. Drew Struzan was an artist of unparalleled skill. His movie posters would get you excited for a film months before it was to be released and, obviously, long before the internet and the rise of computer generated images would muddy the waters and seem to create lifeless, derivative images for the posters that now adorn the walls of movie theatres.
Drew Struzan created art that stirred the imagination and evoked an earnest curiosity about the movie in question; an incredible tableau that provided just enough to give you a solid idea of what the movie was about but never spoil it for you. The expressions of the characters gave you a strong sense of who they were, the background created ideas of fantasy and adventure and these posters remain as iconic now as they did when he first created them. He was always someone I hoped to meet one day at an event or a convention so I could tell him how much his art fed my imagination as a child and helped make me a movie lover at such a young age as much, if not more than, any actor, writer or director ever could.
Needless to say that I am heartbroken to hear of his passing today. But I remain in awe of his legacy that he has bequeathed the world through his unmitigated talent and artistic vision of cinema. Thank you, Drew Struzan, for gifting me an eternal love of cinema and thank you for my childhood in image after perfect image. Rest in peace. 🥺😔
