Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Stan Winston first worked with Robert Zemeckis on an episode of Amazing Stories — the television series produced by Steven Spielberg — titled Go to the Head of the Class, which aired in November 1986. Zemeckis again turned to Stan Winston Studio for What Lies Beneath (2000), his thriller homage to Alfred Hitchcock starring Harrison Ford as a college professor, Dr. Norman Spencer, and Michelle Pfeiffer as his wife, Claire, who begins to see visions of a murdered co-ed.
Stan Winston's studio produced two puppet versions of the girl, 'Madison', portrayed by Amber Valletta. One non-articulated head-and-torso puppet, dubbed 'Beautiful Madison,' was a bluish, veiny corpse; while the second 'Horrible Madison' puppet was a far more decomposed, skeletal form.
Zemeckis shot both 'Madison' puppets in a twenty-five-foot-deep water tank. A team of four Winston puppeteers, in scuba gear, marionetted the puppets underwater, manipulating fishing line attached to the limbs.
In this video, you can see the Stan Winston Studio crew testing the 'Horrible Madison' puppet underwater.
Full behind-the-scenes story here: bit.ly/WhatLiesBeneathYT
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Stan Winston first worked with Robert Zemeckis on an episode of Amazing Stories — the television series produced by Steven Spielberg — titled Go to the Head of the Class, which aired in November 1986. Zemeckis again turned to Stan Winston Studio for What Lies Beneath (2000), his thriller homage to Alfred Hitchcock starring Harrison Ford as a college professor, Dr. Norman Spencer, and Michelle Pfeiffer as his wife, Claire, who begins to see visions of a murdered co-ed.
Stan Winston's studio produced two puppet versions of the girl, 'Madison', portrayed by Amber Valletta. One non-articulated head-and-torso puppet, dubbed 'Beautiful Madison,' was a bluish, veiny corpse; while the second 'Horrible Madison' puppet was a far more decomposed, skeletal form.
Zemeckis shot both 'Madison' puppets in a twenty-five-foot-deep water tank. A team of four Winston puppeteers, in scuba gear, marionetted the puppets underwater, manipulating fishing line attached to the limbs.
In this video, you can see the Stan Winston Studio crew testing the 'Horrible Madison' puppet underwater.
Full behind-the-scenes story here: bit.ly/WhatLiesBeneathYT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOIN the Stan Winston School Community!
stanwinstonschool.com
tiktok.com/@stan_winston_school
facebook.com/StanWinstonSchool
instagram.com/stanwinstonschool
pinterest.com/stanwinston
Visit our WEBSITE: stanwinstonschool.com
SUBSCRIBE to #SWSCA on YouTube: bit.ly/Zp70T4
