Pal, George

Biography

Pal was born in Cegled, Hungary, Feb. 1, 1908; graduated from the Budapest Academy of Arts with an architecture degree; began his cinema career in Budapest, then moved to Universum Film Aktien Gesellschaft (UFA) in Berlin where he became head of the animation department; moved to Paris and under the sponsorship of Phillips radio he began work on his first "puppet-toon," "The Ship of Ether"; he opened a studio in Holland (1930s) where he continued working on his "puppet-toon" concept which involved manipulating thousands of different interchangeable wooden heads, arms, legs, and bodies to produce a fluid and lifelike effect when filmed a frame at a time; in 1940, Paramount studio commissioned Pal to make a series of theatrical puppet cartoon short subjects, "The Madcap Models" and "George Pal Puppetoons"; he went on to feature films in 1950 with "The Great Rupert" and "Destination Moon," the first Technicolor science fiction film; the recipient of numerous awards including Academy Awards for Achievement in Special Effects and a special Award for the development of novel methods and techniques in the production of short subjects known as Puppetoons; died 1980.