Oskar Fischinger: 5 facts you should know about the influential filmmaker and visual artist

Oskar Fischinger, the German-American artist, musician and film maker has been honoured by a Google Doodle on what would have been his 117th birthday.

The artist’s ground-breaking style of animation changed filmmaking and his creation, Allegretto, is recognised as one of the greatest pieces in the history of visual music.

Mr Fischinger would often spend months or years finalising and perfecting his work and ensuring all his arrangements were in time with his music.

Here are five things you should know about Mr Fischinger:

1. He fled Adolf Hitler’s Germany in 1936

Many artists and intellectuals were labelled degenerates by the Nazi party and Mr Fischinger was forced to flee his native country for Hollywood. Executives at Paramount offered him a job, providing him with an opportunity to escape the Nazi regime.

2. He created the special effects for Woman in the Moon

The 1929 blockbuster was one of the first ever serious science fiction rocket films and is considered a classic. Despite breaking his ankle while working on the project, Mr Fischinger’s input is considered to be his first great contribution to cinema.

3. He was hired to work on Walt Disney’s Fantastia but quit

Mr Fischinger walked away from helping to design the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor sequence that opens Disney’s Fantasia after his designs were altered to show more realistic shapes.

“One thing I definitely found out: that no true work of art can be made with that procedure used in the Disney Studio,” he reportedly said.

4. He invented the Lumigraph

In the 1940s Mr Fichsinger invented a visual instrument which he called the Lumigraph. It created lights to accompany music and required two people to operate it. He performed with the instrument on several occasion and amazed audiences with the images.

5. He created more than 50 short films

Mr Fischinger was a prolific and dedicated artist and throughout the course of his lifetime, created more than 50 short films and 800 canvases.