George Pal Biography

Fast Facts

• On the 25th Anniversary of his adaptation of "The War of the Worlds," it was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founded the George Pal Lecture on Fantasy in Film series in his memory in 1980
• Won the Winsor McCay Award at the 1976 Annie Awards
• In 1928, at the age of 20, he graduated from the Budapest Academy of Arts
• Made films for Hunnia Films in Budapest, Hungary from 1928 to 1931
• Developed a technique of animation that he used for "Puppetoons" in which various puppets were used in stop motion animation instead of a single puppet that was repeatedly repositioned
• Many science fiction enthusiasts consider him to be the father of the contemporary science fiction film, as his "Destination Moon" was the first Hollywood space-themed film based on actual scientific speculation
• Woody Woodpecker appears somewhere in all the films he produced or directed
• Co-authored a sequel to H․G․ Wells's "Time Machine" called "Time Machine II" along with Joe Morhaim
• He was referenced in the opening theme of "The Rocky Horror Show" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show․"