The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
"Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed" (original title)

A handsome prince rides a flying horse to faraway lands and embarks on magical adventures, which include befriending a witch, meeting Aladdin, battling demons and falling in love with a princess.

Director:

Lotte Reiniger

Storyline

Based on stories from "The Arabian Nights." A wicked sorcerer tricks Prince Achmed into riding a magical flying horse. The heroic prince is able to subdue the magical horse, which he uses to fly off to many adventures. While travelling, he falls in love with the beautiful Princess Peri Banu, and must defeat an army of demons to win her heart. The entire film is animated using the silhouette technique, which employs movable cardboard and metal cutouts posed in front of illuminated sheets of glass.

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Plot Keywords:

prince | horse | princess | sorcerer | aladdin | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

Germany

Release Date:

20 June 1929 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

Company Credits

Production Co:

Comenius-Film GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min 65 min 66 min (2001 alternate) 81 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White (tinted and toned)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the earliest feature-length animated films (only two Argentinean films, both now lost, may predate it).

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Connections

Featured in Animated Century (2003)

User Reviews

delightful, charming, amazing early animated film

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!