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

Although some non-public screenings of the completed film occurred in Berlin, Germany as early as 2 May 1926, the first public screening was in Paris in July 1926, through the mediation of Jean Renoir.

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Connections

Featured in Animated Century (2003)

User Reviews

A beautiful film to look at and experience so many years later

Although "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is most commonly considered to be the first full-length, color-animated film of its kind, in 1926 this adaptation of the "Arabian Nights" stories was created using silhouette animation by Lotte Reiniger, and it's just as wonderful to look at.

She spent three years cutting out the figures to be used in the film, and the result is a visual marvel - I notice my television guide only gave it two and a half stars (from four), less than they gave "Batman Forever," but I fail to see what is unimpressive about this.

The story sees Prince Ahmed going on magical adventures with his flying horse, saving a beautiful princess and so on and so forth. It's the typical fantasy story told extremely well with visual craftsmanship that really makes this worth seeing alone. It's a silent film, only about an hour long, so it's an acquired taste. Film buffs will probably get more out of this than the average viewer, but I really enjoyed it.