Lester Novros (January 27, 1909 – September 10, 2000) was an American artist, animator, and teacher.

Early life

Lester Novros was born in

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was List of municipalities in New Jersey, the state's 16th-most-populous ...

, on January 27, 1909. Novros studied painting at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, was an active member of the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

and studied at the Prado Museum in

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Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

.Lenburg, Jeff
''Who's who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators''
p. 265.

Hal Leonard Corporation Hal Leonard LLC (formerly Hal Leonard Corporation) is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Cur ...

, 2006. . Accessed April 28, 2017. "A native of Passaic, New Jersey, Novros grew up wanting to be a painter"

Career

His curiosity in the study of movement lead to an interest in

motion pictures A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. In 1936, he was recruited by the

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

to come to Hollywood to work on feature animation projects. Novros was an " inbetweener" on the 1937 Disney animated film ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'', and received a credit for art direction for the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence of '' Fantasia'' (1940). In 1941, Novros left Disney to form his own production company, Graphic Films. That same year, he joined the faculty of the Cinema Department of the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. Thousands of students took his course on "Filmic Expression" before his retirement in 1984. Novros taught USC filmic writing students. I had his brilliant class in spring of 1986. He included the brilliant psychological theory of movement laws and human evaluation. This understanding creates excellence in all visual mediums. These theories were from Slavo Vorkapich. Graphic Films found immediate success producing training films for the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

emerged in the post war period, Graphic's expertise in animating the visual dimensions of space exploration played a key role in interesting the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

and the general public in supporting the country's first forays into space. Among his many achievements, Novros may be most remembered as a pioneer in the large format and special venue film industries. Included in his filmography are numerous specialty films produced for World Fair Expositions, including several titles for the 1964 New York's World Fair, including Chemical Man for Abbott Laboratories, Reaching for the Stars, for

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, and Voyage to America for the United States Pavilion. However, it was the 10-perf, 70mm film '' To the Moon and Beyond'', (produced for Cinerama Corporation) that caught the attention of filmmaker

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

, who soon enlisted the creativity of Novros and his special effects team in the creation of '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968). Novros's interest in large format film technology led him to produce some of the first

Imax IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

/ Omnimax films, for the Reuben H. Fleet Space Center in

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, including Voyage to the Outer Planets, Cosmos: the World of Loren Eisley and Tomorrow in Space (1982). In 1976, Novros won national acclaim and an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nomination for his

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

''. Novros's much sought after course at USC helped young filmmakers understand the relationship of color, light, movement and form as they specifically related to the film medium. Upon his retirement from USC, he continued to assemble his lectures into a textbook. Former student and friend

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

penned these words for the introduction of the manuscript: "The first time I truly understood the unique quality of film was when I took Les Novros' class. Stressing that film is a kinetic medium, Les has kept the Eisensteinian flame burning at USC, and it is a tradition that has strongly influenced my work."

Death

At the age of 91, Novros died on September 10, 2000, in

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density ...

, after an extended illness. He was survived by his wife Esther (née Susswein) Novros and his children, including son David Novros.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novros, Lester 1909 births 2000 deaths People from Passaic, New Jersey Art Students League of New York alumni National Academy of Design alumni Film directors from New Jersey Animators from New Jersey Walt Disney Animation Studios people University of Southern California faculty