Directing

Lotte Reiniger

Born June 2, 1899 · Berlin, German Empire [now Germany]

Died June 19, 1981 · aged 82

Lotte Reiniger was born on June 2, 1899 in Berlin, Germany. She is known for her work on Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (1926), The HPO (1938), and Däumlienchen (1954). She was married to Carl Koch. She died on June 19, 1981 in Dettenhausen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Known For

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

The Adventures of Prince Achmed · 1926

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

MovieAnimationAdventure

Taken from The Arabian Nights, a wicked sorcerer and the beautiful prince Achmed battle one against the other during a series of wondrous adventures.

Thumbelina

Thumbelina · 1954

MovieAnimationFantasy

Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina told the tale of a tiny girl grown from seed to be a companion to an old woman, Reiniger has her Thumbelina born spontaneously and magically from a flower, beholden to none but herself.

Papageno

Papageno · 1935

MovieAnimationMusic

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

Girl of the Golden West

Girl of the Golden West · 1942

Girl of the Golden West

MovieWesternDrama

The Grasshopper and the Ant

The Grasshopper and the Ant · 1954

The Grasshopper and the Ant

MovieAnimationFantasy

A musical Grasshopper continues to play his violin while the Ant works hard to prepare for the winter. Later as winter arrives Grasshopper realizes he is not ready for winter and falls ill.

Puss in Boots

Puss in Boots · 1935

Silhouette film based on Perrault's fairy tale.

The Star of Bethlehem

The Star of Bethlehem · 1956

The Star of Bethlehem

MovieAnimationTV Movie

The Three Wise Men from the East follow the star to Bethlehem, but hostile spirits try to stop them on their journey.

Sissi

Silhouette animation prepared to be shown during a scene change of the Fritz Kreisler operetta "Sissi".

Filmography

Sort

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

The Adventures of Prince Achmed · 1926

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

MovieAnimationAdventure

Taken from The Arabian Nights, a wicked sorcerer and the beautiful prince Achmed battle one against the other during a series of wondrous adventures.

Director

Thumbelina

Thumbelina · 1954

MovieAnimationFantasy

Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina told the tale of a tiny girl grown from seed to be a companion to an old woman, Reiniger has her Thumbelina born spontaneously and magically from a flower, beholden to none but herself.

Director

Papageno

Papageno · 1935

MovieAnimationMusic

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

Director

Girl of the Golden West

Girl of the Golden West · 1942

Girl of the Golden West

MovieWesternDrama

Screenplay

The Grasshopper and the Ant

The Grasshopper and the Ant · 1954

The Grasshopper and the Ant

MovieAnimationFantasy

A musical Grasshopper continues to play his violin while the Ant works hard to prepare for the winter. Later as winter arrives Grasshopper realizes he is not ready for winter and falls ill.

Director

Puss in Boots

Puss in Boots · 1935

Silhouette film based on Perrault's fairy tale.

Writer

The Star of Bethlehem

The Star of Bethlehem · 1956

The Star of Bethlehem

MovieAnimationTV Movie

The Three Wise Men from the East follow the star to Bethlehem, but hostile spirits try to stop them on their journey.

Animation

Sissi

Silhouette animation prepared to be shown during a scene change of the Fritz Kreisler operetta "Sissi".

Director

Carmen

MovieMusicAnimation

Silhouette film. Based on Bizet’s opera “Carmen”.

Director

Doctor Dolittle and His Animals

Doctor Dolittle and His Animals · 1928

Doctor Dolittle and His Animals

Short directed by Lotte Reiniger.

Director

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Pied Piper of Hamelin · 1918

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

A traveler comes into a town overrun with rats and vermin. He promises to free the place of the pests and names his price. When the townspeople refuse to pay him after he has done what he promised, he plays his tune again with consequences. This film survives in incomplete/fragmentary form.

Title Designer

The Star of Bethlehem

The Star of Bethlehem · 1921

The Star of Bethlehem

The original nativity story animated silent film by Lotte Reiniger.

Director

Don Quixote

Don Quixote · 1933

MovieAdventureDrama

Inflamed by his readings of chivalric novels, Don Quixote, a knight with a sad face, accompanied by Sancho Panza, a peasant steeped in common sense, decides to set off across the world in search of improbable adventures.

Special Effects

Harlequin

Harlequin · 1931

MovieAnimationRomance

A love story set to a baroque score, HARLEQUIN is a delicate black-and-white ballet rendered through exquisitely detailed silhouettes.

Director

The Adventures of Dr. Dolittle: Tale 3 - The Lion's Den

The Adventures of Dr. Dolittle: Tale 3 - The Lion's Den · 1928

The Adventures of Dr. Dolittle: Tale 3 - The Lion's Den

MovieComedyAnimation

Dr. Dolittle has arrived in the land of monkeys, where gorillas, orangutans, baboons and spiders await medical attention. But how can one do it alone? Luckily, the animals of the desert want to help.

Director

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty · 1922

Sleeping Beauty

MovieFantasyAnimation

A king and queen celebrate their daughter’s birth, but a forgotten fairy curses her to die by pricking her finger on a spindle. Another fairy softens the curse, allowing her to sleep for a hundred years. Despite efforts to remove all spindles, the princess pricks her finger and falls asleep, along with the entire castle.

Director

The Flying Koffer

The Flying Koffer · 1921

The Flying Koffer

MovieAnimationFantasy

Lotte Reiniger's earliest preserved fairytale film based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

Director

The Tocher

The Tocher · 1937

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

Director

Grain Harvest

Grain Harvest · 1944

A delightful animated appeal to help bringing in Scotland’s harvest, made by the legendary Lotte Reiniger.

Director

The Adventures of Dr. Dolittle: Tale 1 - The Trip to Africa

The Adventures of Dr. Dolittle: Tale 1 - The Trip to Africa · 1928

The Adventures of Dr. Dolittle: Tale 1 - The Trip to Africa

MovieAnimationComedy

In a house on the coast, Doktor Dolittle lives with a monkey, a little dog, a pig, a crocodile, a duck and a parrot. He knows the language of animals. A swallow flies to him and tells of a terrible disease among monkeys in distant Africa. Dolittle and his animals board a ship and begin a hilarious journey.

Director

The Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness · 1930

The Pursuit of Happiness

Writer

Die Frau hinter den Schatten: Lotte Reiniger

Die Frau hinter den Schatten: Lotte Reiniger · 1981

Die Frau hinter den Schatten: Lotte Reiniger

MovieDocumentary

The Secret of the Marquise

The Secret of the Marquise · 1922

The Secret of the Marquise

Lotte Reiniger applies her charming cutout animation technique to this early advertisement for the Nivea skin care company.

Director

The Ornament of the Lovestruck Heart

The Ornament of the Lovestruck Heart · 1919

The Ornament of the Lovestruck Heart

The first film directed by influential German-born silhouette animator Lotte Reiniger is delightfully reminiscent of a Valentine’s Day card come to life. Two lovers interact with an ornate background that shifts and changes in tandem with their own balletic movements as they express their feelings for each other.

Writer