What film was first to use the morphing effect?

The 1988 fantasy film Willow was the first movie to make credible, detailed use of the digital morphing effect. In its climactic transformation sequence, the sorceress Fin Raziel changes through a series of animal forms before returning to human form.

Industrial Light & Magic developed the sequence during post-production. The effect digitally transformed one image into another by mapping corresponding points between shapes, creating a smooth metamorphosis rather than a simple dissolve or cut.

Willow is often described as the first film to use morphing, but that wording needs context. Earlier works, including the 1986 film The Golden Child, experimented with related transformations, and analogue image blending had appeared in music videos. Willow is credited with the first major, convincing feature-film use of the technique.

The effect became much more familiar after later films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and music videos including Michael Jackson’s “Black or White.” Willow’s sequence remains an important milestone in computer-generated visual effects.