The Adventures of Prince Achmed
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| Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed | |
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| Directed by | Lotte Reiniger |
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| Written by | Lotte Reiniger |
| Cinematography | Carl Koch |
| Distributed by | Comenius-Film GmbH |
| Release date(s) | July 1926 (France) |
| Running time | 65 minutes (at 24 frame/s) |
| Country | Weimar Republic |
| Language | German |
| Preceded by | Aschenputtel |
| Followed by | The Chinese Nightingale |
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (German: Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed) (Arabic: مغامرات الامير احمد) is a 1926 feature-length animated film by the German animator Lotte Reiniger. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film (two earlier ones were made in Argentina by Quirino Cristiani, but they are considered lost[1]), and it featured a silhouette animation technique Reiniger had invented which involved manipulated cutouts made from cardboard and thin sheets of lead under a camera. The technique she used for the camera is similar to Wayang shadow puppets (though hers were animated frame by frame, not manipulated in live action). The original prints featured color tinting. The story is based on the elements taken from the collection 1001 Arabian Nights, specifically The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou featured in Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book. With the assistance of Aladdin, the Witch of the Fiery Mountain, and a magic horse, the title character battles the evil African sorcerer to win the hand of Princess Pari Banou.
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[edit] Restoration
No original German nitrate prints of the film are known to still exist. While the original film featured color tinting, prints available just prior to the restoration had all been in black and white. Working from surviving nitrate prints, German and British archivists have restored the film including reinstating the original tinted backgrounds of delicate pastels.
[edit] Availability
The film is screened fairly often on Turner Classic Movies. English-market DVDs are available, NTSC R1 (from Image) and PAL R2 (from the BFI). Both versions of the DVD are identical. They feature both an English-subtitled version (the intertitles are in German) and an English voice-over.
[edit] Gallery
Scenes from the tinted version of the film on DVD:
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[edit] Score
The British film composer Geoff Smith composed a new score for the film in 2008, which he performed live as an accompaniment to screenings of the film.
[edit] See also
- List of animated feature-length films
- List of cartoons made in Weimar Germany
- List of stop-motion films
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
- Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed at the Internet Movie Database
- Detailed notes on the film, including Lotte Reiniger's description of its history (PDF)
- Information on DVD version of film
- The Adventures of Prince Achmed at Allmovie (contains incorrect information on film's running time)
- The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Review)
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