The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
Where many might associate the history of animated features starting with 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which actually is far from the start of animated features. Sure Snow White might hold the record of the first completely cel animated film, Germany especially saw multiple full features created over a decade earlier using silhouette animation with the oldest surviving film being 1926's The Adventures of Prince Achmed which is a retelling of the classic One Thousand and One Nights story.
The immediate thing to stick out in The Adventures of Prince Achmed is the animation itself. The concept of having an entire animated feature film in 1926 seems absolutely crazy and where there are clear workarounds the film is forced to take, the result actually comes out in the benefit of the film overall. The incredibly saturated and beautiful silhouette animation might not allow the most depth or complexity but does create some memorable visuals that feel like nothing else out there. Where the scenes can only have so much complexity to them, it also is quite impressive just how memorable and distinct multiple characters and set pieces ended up being making the film feel far from held back by the animation. Specifically, due to this being a shorter film and one of the only films available using this style of animation, it really is allowed to create a unique and standout experience even in the context of viewing the film now nearly a century after the film came out.
It is this strong visual experience that is able to suck audiences in which is able to make up for the story being a bit unmemorable. The story is far from bad but being such a classic story which has been told time and time again, it is hard for it to quite stand out or feel as fresh as the animation for example. Yet there is so much impressive craft and visual design that it never feels like the film is going through the motions or is uninteresting. It also helps that the film moves at a quick enough pace that it never dwells on one story for too long, instead the film acts as almost a storybook telling multiple stories over its runtime which definitely also helps it feel fresh as the runtime goes on.
It is hard to put into the words that the experience of first seeing The Adventures of Prince Achmed, even now with almost 100 years of animated feature films nothing has quite has the same experience of this film. The silhouette animation is so strong and is such a powerful showcase of the craft and vision behind the film that it ends up feeling like a powerful experience from the production alone. The stories are fun enough to where the film holds the audience's attention and overall the film is all around nearly perfect. The only way the film could have been better was if the story was a bit more powerful on its own, other than that this is an extremely well crafted and memorable film that holds up just as much as nearly any other animated film to come out since.
It is hard to put into the words that the experience of first seeing The Adventures of Prince Achmed, even now with almost 100 years of animated feature films nothing has quite has the same experience of this film. The silhouette animation is so strong and is such a powerful showcase of the craft and vision behind the film that it ends up feeling like a powerful experience from the production alone. The stories are fun enough to where the film holds the audience's attention and overall the film is all around nearly perfect. The only way the film could have been better was if the story was a bit more powerful on its own, other than that this is an extremely well crafted and memorable film that holds up just as much as nearly any other animated film to come out since.