The oldest surviving animated feature film was crafted from cardboard, lead, and soap
In short: Released in 1926, Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed remains a landmark of cinema. Using intricate silhouette animation and early multiplane camera techniques, Reiniger spent three years in a garage attic creating a masterpiece that continues to inspire animators and musicians nearly a century after its debut.
Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, holds the distinction of being the oldest surviving animated feature. To bring this fairytale to life, Reiniger invented a silhouette technique, manipulating cardboard cutouts and thin lead sheets under a camera to mimic the effect of traditional shadow puppets. The production was a labor-intensive process, requiring three years of work from 1923 to 1926. Each second of the film demanded 24 frames, with some sources suggesting 18, all painstakingly filmed in the attic of a garage provided by financier Louis Hagen.
The film’s visual magic relied on ingenious, low-tech solutions. Oskar Fischinger created a wax-slicing machine for special effects, while the team used sand, paint, and soap to craft movable backgrounds. Berthold Bartosch, a key member of the animation team, famously noted that soap was an extraordinary tool for the production. To create celestial effects, they used cardboard with small holes placed before strong lights, while tissue paper and silver paper simulated waves and moonlit water. This meticulous craftsmanship resulted in a film that remains critically acclaimed, holding a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite its current status as a classic, the film initially struggled to find a distributor. Its premiere was a privately sponsored screening for over 2,000 people, organized with the help of figures like Bertolt Brecht. The original prints featured color tinting, a detail lost in later black-and-white versions until German and British archivists restored the film in 1998 and 1999 using the Desmet method. Today, the film’s legacy persists through its influence on modern works like Disney’s 1992 Aladdin and the Steven Universe series, as well as a long history of live musical accompaniments by ensembles worldwide.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: The Adventures of Prince Achmed
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