Out of the shadows How Lotte Reiniger made the first animated fairytale movie

Fiona Robinson, 1965-

Book - 2021

"Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981) was a German film director and animator best known for The Adventures of Prince Achmed, which was released in 1926 and is the oldest surviving animated movie. (It came out a full 11 years before Disney's Snow White!) As a little kid, Reiniger loved reading fairytales and fell in love with puppetry. At school, she learned about paperschnitte, or papercuts, which helped her create her signature style of silhouettes. She grew up to make more than 40 films throughout her long career, most of which were fairytales that used her stop-film animation technique of hand-cut silhouettes. Reiniger is now seen as the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation and the inventor of an early form of the multiplane camera.... With art inspired by Reiniger's cut-paper style and a text that uses a fairytale motif that mimics her movies, Out of the Shadows is a sweeping tribute to one of most important figures of animation, whose influence still resonates today"--

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Subjects
Published
New York, NY : Abrams Books for Young Readers 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Fiona Robinson, 1965- (author)
Physical Description
40 unnumbered pages : color illustrations ; 23 x 31 cm
Audience
Ages 6-9.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781419740855
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Born in 1899 in Berlin, Lotte Reiniger loved both traditional tales and an emerging technology known as movies as a girl. In this strikingly designed picture-book biography, Robinson explains how Reiniger not only combined both passions but revolutionized early filmmaking. Lengthier text describes her influences (such as a gift of Chinese puppets and making her own papercut characters) and work with film crews, during which she began experimenting with stop-motion animation. The final section details the production of Reiniger's The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the first full-length fairy tale movie, featuring her signature silhouette papercuts and filmed with a multiplane camera that she invented. In tribute to the filmmaker's style and time period, each section is introduced with "intertitle" plaques reminiscent of silent films. In turn, black backgrounds allow the art (created using scissor-cut silhouette, watercolors, and felt pen) in both white and vibrant colors to shine. A concluding author's note provides more information on Reiniger's career making animated fairy tale films and her lasting legacy. Blending innovative art and engineering, her story is quintessential STEAM.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Robinson (The Bluest of Blues) serves up a thorough, absorbing biography of Lotte Reiniger (1899--1981), an animation pioneer virtually unknown in North America, paying homage by illustrating partially with the meticulous cut-paper technique used by the animator herself. Berlin-born Reiniger is "a modern girl who loved traditional tales" as well as a specific new technology: silent film. Combining two concepts--flat, rod-style "Chinese puppets" received as a gift, and the art of Scherenschnitte--she begins creating moving figures that she stages in her own fairy tale dramas. An alliance with an actor leads to collaboration and finally to her own films--including the first feature-length, stop-motion animated movie. Robinson's intricate illustrations use a variety of visual techniques, including cut-paper silhouettes and replicas of silent film "intertitles." Dense text details aspects of film technology, especially the assembly that makes stop-motion possible, but elides age-appropriate explanations of what back matter contextualizes as "orientalism" in Reiniger's work. Reiniger's determination inspires in this visually arresting picture book, as does the reminder that animation started with very simple tools. Back matter includes an author's note. Ages 6--9. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary. (Feb.)■

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Review by Horn Book Review

Lyrical writing and fanciful scissor-cut, watercolor, and felt pen illustrations are a perfect match for this sophisticated exploration of the life and work of groundbreaking animator Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger (1899-1981), told in three parts. Each section begins with an elegant title card, as if the reader were watching a silent film. Part one focuses on young Lotte's early life in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Berlin, establishing her love of fairy tales and cinema. After receiving a gift of articulating Chinese puppets, her life is forever changed from being "a reader and viewer of stories into a teller of stories." As a teenager, her unique interests in both acting and Scherenschnitte ("scissor cuts") lead to an opportunity to experiment with stop-motion in what becomes a wildly popular film. Parts two and three chronicle her meeting of her future husband/creative partner, introduction to the Tricktisch (or "trick/animation table"), and journey to create the first animated fairy-tale feature film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). Every spread offers an exceptional visual experience, regularly amplifying aspects of the narrative. For example, winding film tape gracefully draws the reader's eye across the page, while a stunning vertically orientated layout reinforces how a multiplane camera works. Vivid watercolor washes, similar to dyes used throughout Reiniger's films, pop against the mostly black backgrounds and silhouetted figures. Substantial back matter includes bibliographic resources as well as an author's note summarizing Reiniger's multi-decade career (and acknowledging the orientalism found in her early work). Patrick Gall March/April 2022 p.(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.