George Pal Explained

George Pal
Birth Name:György Pál Marczincsak
Other Names:Julius György Marczincsak
Birth Date:1 February 1908
Birth Place:Cegléd, Austria-Hungary
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting Place:Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California
Alma Mater:Hungarian University of Fine Arts
Nationality:Hungarian, American
Citizenship:American
Awards:See Awards and Honours
Spouse:Elisabeth "Zsoka" Pal (m.1930)
Children:2 sons
Years Active:1931–1975

George Pal (born György Pál Marczincsak;[1] in Hungarian ˈmɒrt͡sint͡ʃɒk ˈɟørɟ ˈpɑːl/; February 1, 1908 – May 2, 1980) was a Hungarian-American animator, film director and producer, principally associated with the fantasy and science-fiction genres. He became an American citizen after emigrating from Europe.

He was nominated for Academy Awards (in the category Best Short Subjects, Cartoon) for seven consecutive years (1942–1948) and received an honorary award in 1944. This makes him the second-most nominated Hungarian exile (together with William S. Darling and Ernest Laszlo) after Miklós Rózsa.

Early life and career

Pal was born in Cegléd, Hungary, the son of György Pál Marczincsak, Sr.[2] and his wife Mária. He graduated from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 1928 (aged 20). From 1928 to 1931, he made films for Hunnia Film Studio of Budapest, Hungary. In 1931, he married Elisabeth "Zsóka" Grandjean, and after moving to Berlin, founded Trickfilm-Studio GmbH Pal und Wittke, with UFA Studios as its main customer from 1931 to 1933. During this time, he patented the Pal-Doll technique (known as Puppetoons in the US).

In 1933, he worked in Prague. In 1934, he made cigarette[3] advertisement films in his hotel room in Paris, and was invited by Philips to make two more ad shorts. He started to use Pal-Doll techniques in Eindhoven, in a former butchery, then at villa-studio Suny Home. He made five films before 1939 for the British company Horlicks Malted Milk.[4] In December of that year, aged 32, he emigrated from Europe to the United States,[5] and began work for Paramount Pictures. At this time, his friend Walter Lantz helped him obtain American citizenship.

As an animator, he made the Puppetoons series in the 1940s, which led to him being awarded an honorary Oscar in 1943 for "the development of novel methods and techniques in the production of short subjects known as Puppetoons". Pal then switched to live-action film-making with The Great Rupert (1950).

He is best remembered as the producer of several science-fiction and fantasy films in the 1950s and 1960s, such as When Worlds Collide,[6] four of which were collaborations with director Byron Haskin, including The War of the Worlds (1953). He himself directed Tom Thumb (1958), The Time Machine (1960), and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962).

Death

In May 1980, he died in Beverly Hills, California, of a heart attack at the age of 72, and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California. The Voyage of the Berg, on which he was working at the time, was never completed.

Awards and honours

Pal has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1722 Vine St. In 1980, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founded the "George Pal Lecture on Fantasy in Film" series in his memory.

George Pal (along with the film When Worlds Collide) is among the many references to classic science fiction and horror films in the opening theme ("Science Fiction/Double Feature") of both the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show and its cinematic counterpart, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).[7]

In 1975, Pal received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement,[8] as well as the San Diego Comic Con Inkpot Award.[9]

Pal's Puppetoons Tulips Shall Grow and John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946) were added to the Library of Congress 1997 and 2015 National Film Registry.[10] One of the Tubby the Tuba models along with a frog and three string instruments were donated to the Smithsonian Institution for the National Museum of American History.[11]

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive has preserved several of George Pal's films, including Radio Röhren (Valve) Revolution (1934),[12] an advertising short for Philips, Jasper and the Beanstalk (1945), and John Henry and the Inky Poo (1946).[13]

Live-action feature films

YearTitle DirectorProducer
1950The Great Rupert[14]
Destination Moon[15]
1951When Worlds Collide[16]
1953Houdini[17]
The War of the Worlds[18]
1954The Naked Jungle[19]
1955 Conquest of Space[20]
1958 Tom Thumb[21]
1960 The Time Machine[22]
1961 Atlantis, the Lost Continent[23]
1962 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm[24]
19647 Faces of Dr. Lao[25]
1968The Power[26]
1975[27]

Unreleased, unfinished, or projected films

Posthumous collection

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historical Development. https://web.archive.org/web/20110928015951/http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/index.cfm?articleid=11825. dead. September 28, 2011. University for the Creative Arts. 2010-07-12.
  2. Web site: George Pal. October 25, 2019.
  3. Web site: Worth . Stephen . Biography: George Pal . AnimationResources.org . 17 October 2023 . 29 November 2010.
  4. Lloyd . Fran . 10 Making Animation Matter: Peter Sachs Comes to Britain 191 . Applied Arts in British Exile from 1933 . 5 April 2019 . 191–211 . 10.1163/9789004395107_012 . 978-90-04-39510-7 . 194290056 .
  5. Pal, his wife and son, were second cabin passengers on the S.S. Statendam which arrived at the Port of New York from the Netherlands on December 3, 1939.
  6. News: THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; George Pal's New Film Adventure Into Outer Space, 'When Worlds Collide,' Opens at the Globe . Bosley . Crowther . February 7, 1952 . The New York Times.
  7. News: Sokol . Tony . Rocky Horror Picture Show: The Movies And References Behind Science Fiction Double Feature . 10 April 2021 . Den of Geek . 26 September 2019.
  8. Web site: Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement . www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  9. Web site: Inkpot Award. December 6, 2012. Comic-Con International: San Diego.
  10. Web site: 2015 National Film Registry: "Ghostbusters" Gets the Call . December 16, 2015 . Library of Congress.
  11. Web site: Puppets on Radio, Film, and Television . 18 February 2014 . . 24 August 2016 . 3 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181003082907/http://americanhistory.si.edu/puppetry-america/puppets-radio-film-and-television-0 . dead .
  12. Web site: The George Pal Site: Philips Radio . awn.com . 17 October 2023.
  13. Web site: Preserved Projects. Academy Film Archive.
  14. Web site: The Great Rupert. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  15. Web site: Destination Moon. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  16. Web site: When Worlds Collide. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  17. Web site: Houdini. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  18. Web site: The War of the Worlds. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  19. Web site: The Naked Jungle. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  20. Web site: Conquest of Space. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  21. Web site: Tom Thumb. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  22. Web site: The Time Machine. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  23. Web site: Atlantis, the Lost Continent. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  24. Web site: The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  25. Web site: 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  26. Web site: The Power. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  27. Web site: Doc Savage...The Man of Bronze. American Film Institute. August 7, 2019.
  28. Web site: Available Now** **at** www.Puppetoon.Net ~ **The triumphant discovery of** ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES **(1935), thought lost for some 85 years, has... | By Arnold | Facebook. www.facebook.com.
  29. Chico Record. "Hollywood". Virginia McPherson. 25 October 1945. Chico, page 2. https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/681104846/?terms=inkypooh&match=1 (login needed)
  30. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. "Ellen Drew Named For Film Comedy". 13 April 1946. Brooklyn, page 14. https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/686223057/?terms=%22john%20henry%20and%20the%20inky%22&match=1 (login needed)
  31. Web site: William Nolan recollection of history of Logan's Run Movie. William Nolan. https://web.archive.org/web/20130531060005/http://www.scribd.com/doc/6863907/William-F-Nolan-Logan-1-Logans-Run. 2013-05-31.
  32. Web site: The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 3 BD . 4 March 2023 .