Lotte Reiniger

Lotte Reiniger was a animation and puppetry pioneer, who gifted the mediums with her silhouettes and imagination. Yet due to a number of factors, she became a footnote in animation and cinematic history. This book shares Lotte Reinger's story in a detailed account that reveals her contribution to animation, puppetry, Weimar cinema, and modern filmmaking. For three years during the 1920s, in an attic in Potsdam, a young woman crafted what is today the oldest surviving animated feature film. Equipped with scissors, cardboard, sheets of lead, glass panes and a camera, animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger filmed Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed) using a technique of frame-by-frame silhouette animation she developed, inspired by Chinese shadow puppetry. As the result of a number of factors--her gender, her German ethnicity, World War II and a lack of funding--Reiniger became a footnote in animation history. Yet her 60-plus films plainly show her skill and dedication to her craft. This detailed account of her life and work describes her significant contributions to animation, puppetry, Weimar cinema and modern filmmaking.