Novros was an "inbetweener" on the 1937 Disney animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and received a credit for art direction for the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence of Fantasia (1940).
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, who soon enlisted the creativity of Novros and his special effects team in the creation of A Space Odyssey (1968).
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.
Former student and friend George Lucas 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.