![]() Accordingly, The Adventures of Prince Achmed comes off as an artistic experiment for people of all ages to enjoy. Reiniger made the film with a technical crew of German avant-gardists, including Walter Ruttmann, Berthold Bartosch, and her husband, Carl Koch. While the film is not lacking in imagination, it doesn't feel like a children's movie, especially compared to the animated features eventually popularized in the United States. On top of The Adventures of Prince Achmed not looking or sounding quite like the animated films we watch today, it also has a different energy to it. By today's standards, though, it is rather esoteric to watch any film without synchronized sound, and the fact that The Adventures of Prince Achmed manages to weave a thorough and compelling narrative without voice acting is a testament to Reiniger's mastery of her craft. ![]() Sometimes, when the animation is done right, these non-verbal signals can even be more effective in setting a tone. Of course, it is not altogether uncommon for cartoons to still prioritize imagery and sound effects over words. An accompanying score from early film composer Wolfgang Zeller further aids the dramatic queues throughout the film. It instead communicates its story through visuals and sparse text cards. Thus, the movie is without auditory dialogue. The Adventures of Prince Achmed also preceded the advent of sound film by one year. In style and form, it's quite different from a conventional cartoon. However, The Adventures of Prince Achmed's parallels to the animated movies audiences have come to cherish over the past 80-plus years may start and end with its plot. The fantastical, fairy-tale-like narrative involving princes, princesses, sorcerers, and witches suggests a bit of prescient iconography in this early animated film, not to mention its coincidental inclusion of Aladdin. From there, he goes on an episodic odyssey to distant lands, where he falls in love with a princess, battles monsters, and ultimately teams up with Aladdin and a magical Witch to rescue his beloved, defeat the wretched Sorcerer, and return home triumphantly. The plot centers around the titular Prince Achmed, who, after being tricked by an African Sorcerer, is swept away from his kingdom on a flying horse. ![]() When he's not writing lists - and the occasional feature article - for Collider, he also likes to upload film reviews to his Letterboxd profile (username: Jeremy Urquhart) and Instagram account.The Adventures of Prince Achmed shares a story inspired by Middle Eastern legends, notably those scribed in Hanna Diyab's version of One Thousand and One Nights. He's plagued by the question of whether or not The Room is genuinely terrible or some kind of accidental masterpiece, and has been for more than 12 years (and a similar number of viewings). He's also very proud of the fact that he's seen every single Nicolas Cage movie released before 2022, even though doing so often felt like a tremendous waste of time. ![]() His favorite directors include Martin Scorsese, Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino, Werner Herzog, John Woo, Bob Fosse, Fritz Lang, Guillermo del Toro, and Yoji Yamada. He'll gladly watch and write about almost anything, from old Godzilla films to gangster flicks to samurai movies to classic musicals to the French New Wave to the MCU. Jeremy is an omnivore when it comes to his movie-watching diet.
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