A brief History: Tulips Shall Grow

Production date: 1942

A 1928 graduate of the Budapest Academy of the Arts, George Pal worked as head of the animation department of the UFA Studios in Berlin until 1932. In 1933, when the Nazi party came into power, he left Germany for Holland. There he made a number of animated advertising films, in particular for the Philips company (La Grande Revue Philips [The Great Philips Review] can be viewed on this website).


It was during this time that he developed the concept of the Puppetoons, from the words “puppet” and “cartoon”: he skilfully animated magnificent wooden figurines, which he filmed, image by image, in Technicolor. After a time in England, he fled war-torn Europe in 1939 and set himself up in New York.
Paramount then asked him to produce Puppetoons.

 

In 1941, he moved to Hollywood where, over a period of 6 years, he produced more than 40 Puppetoons, including Tulips Shall Grow in 1942. He was awarded an honorary Oscar for the technical prowess of his Puppetoons series in 1944. From 1948 on, he began to produce live-action feature films, but always in an imaginary and fantasy register. He invented many special effects at a time when the technical means were still very limited. For this, he has been recognised as a true precursor by filmmakers such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

 


Six of his feature films won awards between 1951 and 1964. Perhaps you remember The Time Machine, inspired by H.G. Wells’ novel, which he produced and directed in 1960?

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