The Art of Lotte Reiniger

I popped into the Friends of the Library used-book sale yesterday. Since it's nearing the end of the sale, I didn't expect to find much. But I picked out a few things from the magazine bin that should keep me inspired for years. I'll try to show the items in the next few posts.

Here's my favorite find, a copy of the The Illustrated London News, Christmas supplement, from 1959 (the photo is from Antiqbook):

From what I've been able to find out online, the Illustrated London News began in 1842 as the world's first weekly illustrated newspaper. (Digitized images from the newspaper are available at the ILN Picture Library.) It's still published today, though only twice a year.

The 1959 Christmas supplement includes reproductions of classical paintings and a charming article, "From Nudity to Pantalettes: An Account of Children's Costume Through the Ages," illustrated by E.H. Shephard (the illustrator of the Winnie the Pooh books).

But perhaps the biggest treasure in this issue is the brilliant and graceful silhouette illustrations by Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981), a German animator who directed what is probably the first full-length animated feature, The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1936). This issue includes four pages of black-and-gold silhouettes illustrating the fairy tales of Thumbelina ("The Enchanting Story of Little Thumbelina Who, After Many Very Strange Adventures, Finds Her Fairy Prince and True Happiness.") and Puss in Boots ("Puss-in-Boots; The Amazing Story of a Clever and Crafty Cat Who Wins a Title--And a Princess--For His Master."). Reiniger created these cutouts exclusively for the magazine.

Throughout her long career, Reiniger perfected the art of shadow-puppet silhouettes and produced many enchanting animated short films using this technique, most of them retellings of fairy tales. (Several are available on YouTube.) I don't think I can be effusive enough about how accomplished Reiniger's silhouette technique is. The animations she produces are alive and fluid, and the intricate details of the characters and their clothing are astonishing.

I feel like I've missed out on an important branch in the history of animation and illustration not knowing about Reiniger's art until now, but I'm very happy that a chance discovery at a used-book sale introduced me to her work.

UPDATE: Late in 2008 the British Film Institute released a two-DVD set of Reiniger's animated fairy tale films, spanning the years 1922 to 1961. Reiniger's Adventures of Prince Achmed is also available on DVD through BFI.