The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

[Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed]

Director: Lotte Reiniger

Synopsis:
An African magician presents a magical horse to the Caliph in a bid to wed his daughter, but the horse takes the Caliph's son on far-ranging adventures.

Impressions:
Having watched films like both versions of The Thief of Bagdad, I decided to give this one a try. I didn't realize it was an animated film. Elaborate hand cut-out puppets are used, which gives the film a very distinctive look. Given the medium and the era, the animation does come off as a bit janky, but animation itself was in its infancy at this point, so you shouldn't judge it too harshly on that account. The story and characters are fairly standard fairytale fare. Don't expect anything particularly groundbreaking there. It's fairly entertaining with some impressive visuals and both in its own right and as a piece of animation film history, it's well worth watching.

Rating:
Watch It