[4] Earlier in his career, in 1974, Thorpe received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship to develop "behavioral sculptures" involving trained dolphins at Marineland in Florida.
[5] The project resulted in the documentary Betty and Eva, which showcased the synchronized swimming patterns of the trained dolphins.
[5] From 1979 to 1990, Thorpe worked at George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, contributing to special effects in films such as Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Dragonslayer, Poltergeist, Howard the Duck, and The Hunt for Red October.
[4] The concept later expanded to other U.S. cities and inspired television specials and a UK series that ran intermittently until 2018.
[4] After leaving LucasToys in 1994, Thorpe managed Robot Wars events until 1997, when he lost creative control to Profile Records.