Old School Animation

With how easy it is in today's world to fake animation, via programs like Adobe After Effects and Aniboom's tools and ToonBoom, it's rare to find any of today's animation NOT have some type of computer effect: be it computer generated graphics, or the simple movement of a character across the screen by setting starting and stopping points. For me, it's more than a little refreshing to take a look at some of the animated films of yesteryear, to truly experience the purity of animation. And when I say yesteryear, I mean yesteryear.

Last night, I had the privilege to watch Lotte Reiniger's 1936 film The Adventures of Prince Achmed, which is the first feature-length animated film. As you can see from the still, this flick was insanely detailed. And what's crazier is the fact that all of this was cut out. Every slit that isn't black was hand cut, then moved around a la South Park style. This film truly is a sight to behold, and well worth any film or animation buff's time, especially since it is a mere 67 minutes.

More than likely, I will pull together a full review for the film at FilmMedium, and if I ever get back into the History writings--I was trying to write a history for animation--you can bet an essay will be devoted to Lotte Reiniger and her films.

Last but not least, if you're bored, or want to know about how good Get Smart and The Love Guru are, we've got reviews, and a new comic is up.