This short documentary looks at the animated art of Lotte Reiniger. We are taken through a demonstration by Lotte herself on the way she cut out, constructed and filmed a silhouette character. She also discusses how she developed the use of coloured gelatines for her backgrounds. To illustrate her output, the documentary includes extracts from several of her films including Papageno (1935), The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) and The Frog Prince.
Aladdin, a poor tailor in Baghdad, discovers a magic lamp with a genie inside. After he uses it to gain wealth and the hand of the caliph's daughter, he must fend off an evil sorcerer who wants the lamp for himself.
Two women return to their hometown for the funeral of a friend who has taken his own life. They find themselves reconnecting with their old community at Lovers, the local dive bar music venue that hasn’t changed in the years since they left. The friends face their shared loss, and are reminded of the power of coming together through music.
Snow White and Rose Red give shelter to a bear who reveals himself to be a prince under a spell cast by a wicked dwarf.
A musical Grasshopper continues to play his violin while the Ant works hard to prepare for the winter. Later as winter arrives Grasshopper realizes he is not ready for winter and falls ill.
A silhouette animation based on the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale "Hansel & Gretel".
Prince Achmed goes for a ride on a flying horse.
An animated short film based on the famous fairytale by the Brothers Grimm about the enterprising cat in boots and a feather hat, who manages to procure for his poor master a princess, an ogre's castle, and a kingdom.
Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina told the tale of a tiny girl grown from seed to be a companion to an old woman, Reiniger has her Thumbelina born spontaneously and magically from a flower, beholden to none but herself.
Wishing to take power for himself, a magician tricks his nephew, The Caliph of Baghdad, into sniffing a powder which turns him into a stork.
This short film is an illustration of Niver's preservation process of paper print films. Renovare—from the Latin "to renew"—was an apt name for Niver's company, for the Academy Award-winning work that he and his colleagues accomplished has been vital to our collective understanding of cinema's evolution since its origins. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.
