Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed

A really superb animated film, quite amazing for its time, I think. Delightful!

An African sorcerer tries to sell a flying horse he has created or conjured up to a Caliph. He hopes perhaps to have the Caliph's daughter. That being unlikely, he lets the Prince try the horse out, without explaining how it works. Thus, the Prince goes up to soaring heights, and by the time he figures it out, he's found the magical island of Wak-Wak where he half-kidnaps, half-saves a Princess there. They go to China, he meets Aladdin, there's lots of charming adventures, some of them perhaps scary for kids (giant snakes, demons, the Sorcerer, etc.).

It's done with silhouettes, black cut-outs against white (or tinted) backgrounds, though the backgrounds are also filled with silhouettes too. Some of them are very intricate, and there is also a fair amount of attention to detail, like creating rippled reflections in water.

Highly recommended!

THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED pit him against the evil African Sorcerer in an attempt to rescue beautiful Princess Peri Banu from terrible peril.

German filmmaker Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981) was fascinated with cutouts and puppetry from childhood. After seeing a silent film by the great Georges Méliès as a teenager, she knew that movies would be her destiny. Reiniger loved make believe and would eventually make films on a whole series of fabulous characters, from Dr. Dolittle (1928) and Puss in Boots (1936) to Thumbelina (1954) and Hansel & Gretel (1955).

Reiniger's area of expertise was in silhouette animation. Using a pair of scissors, she produced amazingly elaborate images from black paper and then had them back-lit and photographed one frame at a time, moving the cutouts slightly each time, thereby producing the illusion of movement. Her masterwork, after three years of labor, was THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED, produced eleven years before Disney's SNOW WHITE, thus becoming the world's first animated feature film.

The movie tells an exciting story from the world of the Arabian Nights, full of magic, menace & monsters, and incorporates the tale of Aladdin and his love for Achmed's sister Dinarzade, thus giving the movie two valiant heroes instead of only one. The romantic exploits are slightly leavened with a touch of delightful decadence and good humor, exemplified by Achmed's few moments in the seraglio on the magical Isle of Waq Waq.

It is fascinating how these pieces of black paper can evoke an emotional response from the viewer. It is a testimony to the wonderful artistry of their creator, Lotte Reiniger, a woman who richly deserves to be more celebrated by those interested in cinema history.

While I was at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library looking at various VHS tapes I could borrow, my eyes saw something that I've never heard of before called The Adventures of Prince Achmed. I looked at the back case and found out it was possibly the earliest full-length animated feature in existence and was directed by Lotte Reiniger in cutout silhouette. I must say, most of the images were pretty impressive with various color tints and use of detail in backgrounds and movements, all involving black construction paper. Certainly one of the most impressive sequences involved the battle of the evil sorcerer and Witch of the Fiery Mountains as they changed into various vicious animals in the fight to the death. While there's plenty of action here, it's not very fast paced which I guess is par for such a painstaking film that took three years to make involving such attention to dreaming of the big picture but if you allow your imagination to take hold, this could be one of the most enchanting experiences of your life! Definitely worth checking out for animation enthusiasts.

In our age of CG and digital enhancements, it's difficult (for some) to remember a time when things were done by hand and hand alone. Thus, is the case of animation. This painstaking art has been replaced with programs that not only speed up the process of single-frame rendering, they can even mimic pen strokes and outlines.

So it's a rare treat to come across a unique work that illustrates the artistry of early animation in Film. A shining example is Reinger's "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" . There's really no preparation for this feature, one just needs to succumb to the beautiful imagery that begins to reveal itself, one silhouette at a time. It completely takes us off the conventional track and into the realm best inhabited by forgotten dreams. One forgets that one is watching a series of contours and like the traditional Nang Yai shadow puppet play, the journey has you swept away in a short time!

Some may not be as impressed with this `old-fashioned' approach to story telling. It doesn't compare to the spectacles of the `instant classic' available these days. It's a bit `clanky' and possibly too analog for others. On the other hand, if you're looking for a whimsical and imaginative tale of magic, travels to mystical lands, heroism and love (with a charming score), you won't be in the least bit disappointed with this one.

Contrary to popular belief, 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed' was not precisely the first feature-length animated film. It was pre-dated by two Argentinian films directed by Quirino Cristiani, 'El Apóstol / The Apostle (1917)' and 'Sin dejar rastros / Without a Trace (1918),' both now considered lost. Thus, this film does hold the prestigious title of being the oldest surviving feature-length animated film, and what a delight it is! Exclusively featuring silhouette animation, in which manipulated cutouts made from cardboard and thin sheets of lead are lit from the back, the film runs for approximately 65 minutes, and is based on elements taken from the collection '1001 Arabian Nights.'

When a devious African magician tricks adventurous young Prince Achmed into riding a magical flying horse, he is whisked away from his home kingdom and taken to the mysterious island of Wak-Wak, where he falls in love with the beautiful Peri Banu. However, the evil magician, who desires Achmed's sister Dinarsade, kidnaps Peri Banu and sells her to the Chinese Emperor. With the help of Aladdin, and the Witch of the Fiery Mountain, Prince Achmed must defeat his sinister foe and recover his true love.

The silhouette animation in the film is really quite outstanding, and a surprising level of detail is achieved. A scene I particularly enjoyed was the climactic battle between the Witch of the Fiery Mountain and the Africian magician, in which both parties magically transformed themselves into various deadly creatures in order to get the upper hand. The use of different background tints was also co-ordinated carefully in a way that would define the atmosphere of each scene. Notably, this was achieved quite well as the Prince, for the first time, began to rise high into the sky on his newly-acquired flying horse. From a very bright, optimistic yellow, the background changed to a dark, ominous blue, as the onset of strong winds threatened to pluck Achmed from his mount and toss him to the ground far below. Though these tints were present in the original negatives, the loss of these negatives meant that the surviving nitrate prints had to be carefully restored.

In order to rescue the lovely Peri Banu, Prince Achmed must battle a wide array of devilish beasts and monsters, ranging from huge snakes to hundreds of bat-like demons. A distinct advantage of this type of film-making over live-action films is that complex and expensive visual effects are not required. In the scope of this animation, absolutely anything in possible. Nonetheless, one can only imagine how much work must have gone into animating each singular frame of the film. With its endearing style of animation, and a classic tale of love and adventure, Lotte Reiniger's 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed' is a must-see for all film and animation enthusiasts.