20 Things You Somehow Missed In The Mummy (1999)
9. A Very Handy Animatronic
As Evelyn is about to be sacrificed, Rick appears in the nick of time to save her, facing off against an army of mummies. What makes this battle remarkable is the fact the zombified creatures are CGIed, meaning Brendan Fraser mimed his way through this entire sequence.
However, there's one specific shot where a mummy isn't digital... or at least part of it isn't. While two mummies pin Rick down, another of Imhotep's mindless minions prepares to crush him with a stone slab. Although Rick tries to grab his sword, it's just out of reach.
After a dismembered hand crawls over the blade's handle, Rick uses it to slice the legs off the approaching mummy.
Since the hand is moving like it has a mind of its own, it looks like a digital effect. Although this is the case when Rick grabs the decomposing appendage, the first shots are of an elaborate animatronic.
Considering how much work goes into constructing a mechatronic puppet, it's incredible the SFX crew put this together for a shot that only lasts a few seconds.