German animated films: From vanguard to Nazi failure

"The Adventures of Prince Achmed" by Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger from 1926 is thought to be the oldest surviving animated feature film in the world. Two earlier films made by Argentinean Quirino Cristiani are now lost. Reiniger pioneered the silhouette film form using cardboard cutouts animated frame by fram. She made more than 40 films.

After the Nazi rise to power, avant-garde art was targeted as "degenerate." But the Nazis wanted to make the country's animated film industry bigger and better. With Disney as a model in mind (Hitler was a fan), they founded the German Animated Film Company in 1941. The attempt at a successful national animation industry failed due to poor management, little experience and lack of creativity.

The Nazi-state-sponsored German Animated Film Company, which lasted from 1941-44, was supposed to make a film about the mountain ghost Rübezahl. Due to management incompetence, the project failed and was ultimately canceled. Much later, in the 1970s, the East German DEFA film production company, in coproduction with Kratky Film Prague, successfully turned the legend into an animated film (above).

"Armer Hansi" (Poor Hansi) was the only short film production by the German Animated Film Company. The film tells the story of the colorful canary Hansi who flees his cage but returns voluntarily. This short film in color was released in 1943; one year later the company was dissolved.

"Die Wiesenzwerge" (literally meaning the meadow dwarves) was released in 1941. In the midst of World War II, people were supposed to be distracted via state-propagated visions of forest and meadow romanticism. The 16-minute short film acted as a symbol of an ideal world for young and old.