Fantasmagorie (1908)

Director:

Émile Cohl

Genre:

Animation | Short | Fantasy

Plot:

The first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other. |

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title | Early Animation

Also Known As:

A Fantasy (International: English title)
Black and White (International: English title)
Metamorphosis (International: English title)

Runtime:

2 min

Country:

France

Language:

None

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont

Trivia:

Gaumont Catalogue no. 2032

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Night in the Show (1915)

The Purest Entertainment

What a film this is! The film is under two minutes, and I can't remember half of it. I seem to remember a woman with a very large hat getting it pulled off, pants turning into umbrellas, men getting stabbed an dismembered, but still walking around, houses turning into elephants, and many other images. Cohl seemed to want to include every image he could think of in the film. I'm sure he had no idea of the legacy he would leave. In fact, judging by the showoffy nature of the film, it's almost as if, at the time, Cohl thought he might be one of the only people on the planet who would ever be able to make drawings move like that. Even today, with all the technological advances in the field of animation, "Fantasmagorie" is entertaining. Despite the fact that it has no plot or real point except to show off what animation can do, and despite the relative crudeness of the drawings, its relentless, violent energy, and short running time make it a joy to watch. I wouldn't expect non-animation buffs to care much about it however. They'd probably enjoy it, but would have hard time understanding the fuss.