"The three great puppet animators of the world are all deceased: Ladislas Starevitch, Jiri Trnka and now George Pal. From his earliest theatrical advertising shorts made in Holland, France and Britain for clients such as Philips Radio, Horlicks, Unilever and J. Walter Thompson to his famous Puppetoons for Paramount, Pal's style has been imitated but rarely bettered. His understandings of materials, movement and momentum give his doll-like characters a resilient decisiveness which does not try to hide their structural origins but to transcend them. In a technique where working with the big three-strip Technicolor cameras would demand three minutes of exposure for each frame of film, Pal's casts demonstrate a disarmingly expressive naturalism.

“He was a pioneer in the use of theatrical lighting angles and patterns for his miniature stage sets, and a prescient response to new materials such as glass and perspex, edge-lighting and combining reflections in Art-Deco sensibilities. His overall sense of color lighting and modulation continued into his feature films.

“The only negative criticism his shorts received were for the twenty ‘Jasper' cartoons he produced for Paramount. Raised in Europe, Pal was unaware that the strong and distinctive character of a little black boy would be seen by some as racist. From his point of view, Jasper was ‘the Huckleberry Finn of American folklore.' In dismayed response, Pal re-thought his position and produced John Henry And The Inky Poo (1946). Ebony reviewed the picture and said: ‘It is the first film that deals with negro folklore, has a negro as its hero...and treats the negro with dignity, imagination, poetry and love.' In tonight's program, we can compare John Henry with the earlier My Man Jasper (1945) for a privileged comparison of character design. From the beginning in his ‘Rhythm' shorts to the latter swing era films with Ellington and Herman, Pal has always woven well the supple energy of music together with his delightful visuals in a uniquely cinematic harmony.”

-Anthony Reveaux

Magic Atlas (1935); Philips (Rhythm) Cavalcade (1939); Rhythm In The Ranks (1941); Hoola Boola (1941); The Little Broadcast (1942); My Man Jasper (1945); John Henry And The Inky Poo Voice, Rex Ingram (1946); Tubby The Tuba (1946); A Date With Duke With Duke Ellington (1947); Rhapsody In Wood With Woody Herman (1947).