Director acknowledges Kubrick’s genius, but says the maverick’s only Oscar was for special effects he did not originate

Stanley Kubrick did not deserve the only Oscar he ever won, the prize for best visual effects he received in 1969 for 2001: A Space Odyssey, according to Hollywood special effects giant Douglas Trumbull.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Trumbull made it clear he felt the UK-based film-maker should have won many more garlands from the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his writing and directing work over five decades. But he said Kubrick had not been involved in creating the effects for 2001, one of his best-known films.

“Kubrick did not create the visual effects. He directed them,” said Trumbull. “There was a certain level of inappropriateness to taking that Oscar. But the tragic aspect of it for me is it’s the only Oscar Stanley Kubrick ever won. He was an incredibly gifted director and should have gotten something for directing and writing and what his real strength was — not special effects.”

Trumbull, 72, was credited as special photographic effects supervisor on 2001 and has been widely credited for the film’s pioneering use of retroreflective matting for both space sequences and the iconic “Dawn of Man” opening chapter. He described the techniques involved in an extensively detailed interview with American Cinematographer in 1968. Trumbull went on to direct the sci-fi classic Silent Running in 1972.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Douglas Trumbull, director, producer and special effects pioneer, in 2010. Photograph: Andy Cross/Denver Post via Getty Images

Kubrick was nominated for 13 Oscars during his career, including best director and best writing nods for his science fiction epic 2001. He lost out in 1969’s best director category to Carol Reed, who directed the musical Oliver!, while A Clockwork Orange was beaten to best film by The French Connection in 1972, and Dr Strangelove was pipped by My Fair Lady in 1965. Further nominations for the New York-born film-maker came in 1976 for Barry Lyndon and 1988 for Full Metal Jacket.

Kubrick, who was credited as special photographic effects designer and director on 2001, and the only member of the effects team on the Oscar nomination list, did not attend the 1969 Academy awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles to collect his prize. Presenters Diahann Carroll and Burt Lancaster accepted the award on his behalf.