Early science fiction fueled pioneering horror, including Frankenstein (1931) and The Invisible Man (1933). Social factors like the atom bomb paved the way for the 1950s’ golden age of science fiction cinema. That genre-defining science fiction wave was sparked 75 years ago by the most influential animator you likely never heard of, George Pal, and his classic of realist space-race cinema, Destination Moon. The first was The Great Rupert, an often-forgotten Jimmy Durante flop about a trained squirrel, most notable for Pal’s wildly realistic stop-motion animation. Pal’s legacy in science fiction film should receive equal esteem, kicking off the wave American science-fiction cinema that influenced myriad classics to follow.