Lotte Reiniger

Based on stories from "The Arabian Nights." A wicked sorcerer tricks Prince Achmed into riding a magical flying horse... (imdb)

Silhouette animation based on the tale Cinderella from the Brothers Grimm.

Originally a 13-minute episode in Prince Achmed, cut by the German censor, as well as French and German distributors in the interest of keeping the film within the attention span of children. One of the episodes in "The Arabian Nights".

A poor tailor in Baghdad wins the hand of a princess thanks to a series of adventures involving a magic lamp and the genie that lurks within. (screenonline.org.uk)

The classic fairy story: the fairy who is not invited to the Princess's christening party curses her to die from pricking her finger on a spindle. A good fairy commutes the sentence to 100 year's sleep, to be broken by a kiss. (screenonline.org.uk)

Young Hansel and Gretel get lost in the forest, and stumble across a gingerbread cottage owned by an evil witch... (screenonline.org.uk)

After Jack makes a deal in the market, he ends up with mysterious beans that turn out to have magical powers. (www.screenonline.org.uk)

A grasshopper tries to get all his fellow creatures to dance to his music, but the ant would rather stock up for the winter. When winter comes, who had the better idea? (www.screenonline.org.uk)

A woodcutter frees a tree spirit and is awarded three wishes. His wife wastes the first wish on a plate of sausages. He, in anger, uses the second to attach the sausages to the end of her nose. They are forced to use the last wish to reverse the magic. (www.screenonline.org.uk)

A tiny girl is born from a flower. A toad and a mole propose marriage, but she is rescued, first by some fish, then by a swallow, and meets the fairies, who welcome her and give her wings. (screenonline.org.uk)

With this film, based on a tale by Wilhelm Hauff, Lotte Reiniger enters the world of the Arabian Nights, creating opulent backgrounds with marvellous domes, rooftops and minarets, and joins the magic of the Far East with an amusing tale. (KG)

Based on the Brothers Grimms' tale, and shot during the WWII, this short couldn't be completed. (KG)

Readaptation from the German 1934 film, with a new added score of Baroque music and new sound effects (KG)

Telling the tale of a pauper who disguises himself as an upper-class suitor to win the hand of a young woman at a private ball. (7digital.com)

Animated commercial for Nivea soap.

Retelling of the classic story with Reiniger's famous animation style.

Lotte Reiniger's 1938 animated short film.

Film shows the story of Papageno (the one from Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute"), who wants a mate, yet has difficulties getting one. (imdb)

Silhouette-animated telling of the classic fairy tale.

Retelling of the Brothers' Grimm classic fairy tale with silhouette animation.

Reiniger's particular brand of animation is here used in a short about the "Origin of Christmas"

Color remake of Lotte Reiniger's silhouette animation tale "Der Stern von Bethlehem"

Another silhouette animated film from Reiniger telling the classic Grimm Brothers story.

This guide to elementary hygiene is among the most eccentric and enjoyable Public Information Films. Director Lotte Reiniger is famed for her quaint silhouette animation, but here she seems on the verge of a career shift that unfortunately never happened. If it had, she would be remembered as one of the great British surrealists. (BFI)

Der fliegende Koffer is a German animated film first released in 1922, directed by Lotte Reiniger. It has also been released under the title: The Flying Koffer. (imdb)

Silhouette fairy tale film about a man who wins his true love with the help of the "wee folk". (imdb)

The Greek legend of Pygmalion and Galatea get the Lotte Reininger silhouette treatment in this lovely and funny adaptation of the old Greek myth. Pygmalion falls in love with his statue of a beautiful woman and his prayers are answered: she becomes a live woman -- in this case she transforms from part of the painted background into one of Reininger's silhouettes. But Pygmalion, who has conventional ideas of how women should behave, finds that his creation has different ideas of what she wants.

A series of three short films based on the classic stories by Hugh Lofting.

A synchronised silhouette film of the character Harlequin.

A wicked giant attempts to steal all of the instruments from a small town.

Lotte Reiniger's first film.

Carmen seduces a soldier. She takes him home to the Gypsy camp, and while he sleeps, she steals his clothes and weapons. She trades them for an elegant dress, but even with fine clothes, she can't get the time of day from the toreador. She goes to the bullfight, where the soldier tries to come after her with a dagger. She gets into the ring and manages to seduce the bull, who takes a rose from her mouth. She rides off on the bull with her man.

This New Testament parable is animated in Lotte Reiniger's inimitable style. (imdb)

Prince Achmed goes for a ride on a flying horse. (imdb)

Cinderella lived with her stepmother and her two stepsisters. They were very mean to Cinderella, making her work all day cleaning, sewing, and cooking. She tried her best to make them happy. Cinderella's stepmother, was cold, cruel, and jealous of Cinderella's charm and beauty. (imdb)

A short animated film by Lotte Reiniger based on Mozart's Il Seraglio.