NFR Project: 'Tulips Shall Grow' (1942)

 

NFR Project: “Tulips Shall Grow”

Dir: George Pal

Scr: Cecil Beard, George Pal, Jack Miller

Pho: George Pal

Premiere: June 26, 1942

7 min.

The film marks the bursting on to the scene of animator George Pal. Pal was born in Hungary, started off as an architect, and moved into the profession of animation. He was so talented he was made the head of Germany’s UFA studio’s animation department. However, the rise of Hitler caused him to move to Holland. He continued his career there, but then, again to escape the Nazis, he and his wife relocated to America.

He found work in animation at Paramount, and there crafted his unique take on stop-motion animation – replacement animation. Instead of posing flexible figures, Pal would create new puppets or parts of puppets to shoot one frame at a time, allowing him more flexibility with the images produced.

Here, he tells the story of two Netherlanders – Jan and Janette. They live in windmills, and play music and dance happily amid fields of tulips. Suddenly, over the horizon comes an army of “screwballs” – mechanical figures that are obvious stand-ins for Nazis. The Screwballs lay waste to the countryside, and Jan and Janette are separated.

Jan winds up praying and crying inside a ruined church. His prayers seem to be answered when a powerful rainstorm lashes down, destroying the enemy’s planes and tanks and rusting all the invaders until they disintegrate. Then Jan finds Janette, and they resume their happy lives. The windmills reconstitute themselves, and the tulips grow again.

Pal’s techniques would hold him in good stead for decades to come, during which he would help create such classic sci-fi films as When Worlds Collide (1951) and The Time Machine (1960).

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Woman of the Year.