Who was Oskar Fischinger? Watch his musical animations. Doodle on what would have been his 117th birthday.

Google has honoured Oskar Fischinger, the German-American artist, musician and filmmaker who created incredible works of animated art set to music, with a commemorative Doodle on what would have been his 117th birthday.

Fischinger left Nazi Germany for Hollywood in 1936 as Hitler cracked down on abstract art. His impeccably-created stop-motion animations, synchronised to music, were a painstaking endeavour that he would obsess over for months or years.

Before computer software, the animations were a labour of love, requiring its creators to meticulously plan the arrangements and make sure they were in time with the music.

"Music is not limited to the world of sound. There exists a music of the visual world," is one of Fischinger's famous quotes.

Google's commemorative Doodle allows those who click on it to create their own visual art in Fischinger's style, clicking on the diamonds to choose notes.

Here are some of Fischinger's most famous animations
An Optical Poem (1938)

Kreise (1934)

Outward Movement (1948)

Fischinger also painted, seeking to introduce a feeling of movement into his works, such as in

Fischinger died in 1967 but to this day many of his works are in the Center for Visual Music in Los Angeles.