When Formation Effects were invited to design and build the practical gags for Sony Pictures’ Anaconda, the team knew they were stepping into iconic creature territory. Excited, slightly terrified, and laughing at the sheer audacity of the brief, the crew dove in under the creative leadership of Formation’s Creative Director, Steve Boyle. Working hand-in-hand with director Tom Gormican, the goal was clear: create a new giant anaconda for a new generation, that stands apart from the 1997 classic while still earning its place in the creature-feature hall of fame.

From day one, the brief demanded scale. This snake wasn’t just big. It needed to wrap around performers, dominate frames, and deliver genuine menace.

The design process began with experimentation, starting small to define just how big the giant anaconda should be within the Amazonian world being brought to life in Queensland. Formation collaborated closely with ILM’s VFX Supervisor Frazer Churchill, developing a series of digital sculpts that balanced realism and terror without drifting into parody.

A major focus was the head. Its shape, proportions, and facial expression would determine whether the creature felt frightening or cartoonish on camera. Through multiple iterations, the team refined the sculpt, lengthening the skull, softening the brow, and widening the eyes, to strike the perfect tonal balance. Formation also explored a range of eye variations with different textures and colours to help define the snake’s personality and presence.

Bringing the Anaconda to Life

The filmmakers wanted a distinctly green anaconda, but one that would stand out from real-world species. Formation developed a library of paint treatments, exploring bold patterning and subtle gradients, before narrowing the options to two signature looks: one more defined, one more blended. To make the decision tangible, the team 3D-printed a full-scale anaconda head and painted each side in a different style, allowing the creatives to judge the options in real light, on set, and in camera. The eyes underwent the same treatment so the final combinations could be reviewed holistically.

The winning look: deep green eyes paired with a beautifully blended scale pattern: organic, threatening, and uniquely Anaconda. Once the design was locked, Formation produced several key practical builds for the shoot, including:

• A full-scale open-mouth lighting reference for VFX
• A full-scale closed mouth lighting reference for VFX
• A detailed 3-metre body section designed to wrap around performers which could be puppeteered for interactive moments on set

These pieces allowed for essential performer interaction, lighting realism, and seamless integration with ILM’s digital work.

And then there was Boris: The Regurgitated Boar

While Formation Effects were deep in the design of the giant anaconda, we simultaneously tackled another unforgettable practical gag: the regurgitated boar strapped to Jack Black’s character, Doug. Even in early concept meetings, the idea had the team in stitches, Doug sprinting through the Amazon with a gooey, hyper-real boar on his back and a squirrel lodged in his mouth. On paper it was hilarious; in execution, the creature work needed to be shockingly realistic, appropriately gross, and irresistibly funny.

The gag’s success hinged on the boar’s positioning. The filmmakers wanted its head to sit above Jack’s, which sparked a series of sketches and discussions about how to orient a four-legged animal believably, and safely, on a human performer. Once the pose was locked, Formation digitally sculpted the boar, then 3D-printed, moulded, and cast it at full scale.

The final build was run in silicone, allowing the boar to be posed precisely while still giving the delicate ears and head the natural flop needed for Doug’s frantic jungle run. Hair was both glued and hand-punched into the silicone skin to achieve an unsettling level of realism. Weight was also a critical factor; the boar needed to look hefty without hindering Jack or his stunt double during high-energy sequences.

The same meticulous process was applied to the squirrels used in the gag. Each piece needed to be just as realistic as the boar while also being food-safe for shots where they sat inside Doug’s mouth.

To support the build, Formation designed a custom harness worn beneath wardrobe, developed collaboratively with the costume department to ensure comfort, stability, and seamless swaps between Jack and his stunt performer. Even the anaconda “goop” got its own creative journey, to achieve the perfect colour, shine, and viscosity. (A surprising amount of baby shampoo was involved.)

“Formation Effects’ work was nothing short of spectacular! Creating the boar that was eventually strapped to Jack Black’s back was so photo realistic and detailed it blew us all away. Formation’s attention to the details and ability to adjust and iterate both on the boar and snake design was both instructive and inspiring.”

Tom Gormican, Director

The result speaks for itself. Audience response to the teaser trailer were so successful that the production commissioned a pickup shoot and even a dedicated poster centred on the boar gag. It quickly became one of the film’s most talked-about on-set moments, shared widely and cemented as a standout piece of creature effects work.

Anaconda is an example of what’s possible when filmmakers, practical effects and visual effects teams push towards the same creative horizon. We’re proud to have played a part in bringing the film’s creatures to life and look forward to continuing to collaborate on stories that support bold storytelling with the highest level of practical and digital creature work.