The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
Encyclopedia
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal is a documentary film about Academy Award winning producer/director George Pal
. It was written, directed, and produced by Arnold Leibovit and released in 1985.
It follows Pal’s career, beginning with his early life in Hungary and Germany, and covering his progression from cartoon artist to creator of stop-motion animated short films (known as Puppetoons
) to full length feature motion pictures. Pal was a visionary and innovator in the world of motion pictures, especially in the area of stop motion
animation, which he pioneered. His work earned him eight Academy Awards and served as an inspiration for Gene Roddenberry
, Steven Spielberg
, and George Lucas
, among others. The film includes interviews with Pal's cast members, crew, and peers, as well as Pal himself.
It was released on DVD
on August 29, 2000.
George Pál
George Pal , born György Pál Marczincsak, was a Hungarian-born American animator and film producer, principally associated with the science fiction genre...
. It was written, directed, and produced by Arnold Leibovit and released in 1985.
It follows Pal’s career, beginning with his early life in Hungary and Germany, and covering his progression from cartoon artist to creator of stop-motion animated short films (known as Puppetoons
Puppetoons
George Pal's Puppetoons were a series of animated puppet films made in Europe in the 1930s and in the U.S. in the 1940s. They are memorable for their use of "replacement" animation: using a series of different hand-carved wooden puppets for each frame in which the puppet moves or changes...
) to full length feature motion pictures. Pal was a visionary and innovator in the world of motion pictures, especially in the area of stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animation, which he pioneered. His work earned him eight Academy Awards and served as an inspiration for Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
, Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, and George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
, among others. The film includes interviews with Pal's cast members, crew, and peers, as well as Pal himself.
It was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on August 29, 2000.
Cast
- Robert BlochRobert BlochRobert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
- Chesley BonestellChesley BonestellChesley Bonestell was an American painter, designer and illustrator. His paintings were a major influence on science fiction art and illustration, and he helped inspire the American space program...
- Ray BradburyRay BradburyRay Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
- Wah ChangWah ChangWah Ming Chang was a Chinese American designer, sculptor, and artist. He is known primarily for his sculpture and the props he designed for Star Trek , including the tricorder, and communicator...
- Tony CurtisTony CurtisTony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
- Jim DanforthJim DanforthJim Danforth is a stop-motion animator, known for model-animation and matte painting. Danforth is known for his work on When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth , a sequel of sorts to Ray Harryhausen's One Million Years B.C....
- Joe DanteJoe DanteJoseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
- Roy Edward DisneyRoy E. DisneyRoy Edward Disney, KCSG was a longtime senior executive for The Walt Disney Company, which his father Roy Oliver Disney and his uncle Walt Disney founded. At the time of his death he was a shareholder , and served as a consultant for the company and Director Emeritus for the Board of Directors...
- Barbara EdenBarbara EdenBarbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early years:...
- Paul FreesPaul FreesPaul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
- Duke Goldstone
- Gae Griffith
- Ray HarryhausenRay HarryhausenRay Harryhausen is an American film producer and special effects creator...
- Charlton HestonCharlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
- Walter LantzWalter LantzWalter Benjamin Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, film producer, and director, best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.-Early years and start in animation:...
- Janet LeighJanet LeighJanet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
- Albert NozakiAlbert NozakiAlbert Nozaki was an art director who worked on various films for Paramount Pictures. He is perhaps best known for his memorable design of the Martian war machines from the 1953 film The War of the Worlds and for his art direction on the epic The Ten Commandments...
- David Pal
- Tony RandallTony RandallTony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...
- Ann RobinsonAnn RobinsonAnn Robinson is an American actress and stunt horse rider, perhaps best known for her work in the film, The War of the Worlds and in the 1947 to 1970 radio and television series, Dragnet, in which she starred opposite Jack Webb....
- Gene Roddenberry
- Russ TamblynRuss TamblynRussell Irving "Russ" Tamblyn is an American film and television actor, who is arguably best known for his performance in the 1961 movie musical West Side Story as Riff, the leader of the Jets gang....
- Rod Taylor
- William Tuttle
- Gene WarrenGene WarrenGene Warren, Sr. won an Academy Award for the special effects on George Pal's The Time Machine in 1960. He also contributed to such projects as Land of the Lost, Man from Atlantis, and The Crow: City of Angels...
- Robert WiseRobert WiseRobert Earl Wise was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director...
- Alan YoungAlan YoungAlan Young is an English-Canadian actor and voice actor, best known for his role as Wilbur Post in the television series Mister Ed and as the voice of Scrooge McDuck in Disney films, TV series and video games...
- Ward KimballWard KimballWard Walrath Kimball was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios. He was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as Disney's Nine Old Men.-Career:...
- Yvette MimieuxYvette MimieuxYvette Carmen Mimieux is a retired American movie and television actress.-Early life and career:Yvette Mimieux was born in Los Angeles, California, to a French father and Mexican mother, Carmen Montemayor...
- George Pal