Humpty Dumpty Circus (1898)

A reel of mirth-provoking stunts that will draw the pennies from the children, but which is of much interest to young and old alike. It opens with a crowd of children leaving school and ... See full summary »

Directors:

J. Stuart Blackton, Albert E. Smith

Writer:

J. Stuart Blackton (animated by)

Storyline

A reel of mirth-provoking stunts that will draw the pennies from the children, but which is of much interest to young and old alike. It opens with a crowd of children leaving school and marching through the streets to the "Humpty Dumpty Circus." We see them crowd into the tent and at the end of each act they vociferously applaud the performers These are the little wooden toys that are familiar to all, and which are made to perform all the usual acrobatic stunts of the circus performer in a remarkably realistic manner. Some of the scenes are really comical and it is hard to believe that the elephants and donkeys are not alive.

---

Plot Keywords:

stop motion | 

---

Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy

---

Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

1898 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kalem Company, Vitagraph Company of America

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Milestone short for both animation and stop-motion

Considered one if not THE first stop-motion picture of all time. J.S. Blackton simply moves his sons toys around 1 frame at a time so that they appear to move around without anyone person physically moving them on camera. Film has for some time been lost and cannot be found, only information about the film exists.