The ancient tales of the 1,001 Arabian nights come to life in what as known as the first animated film, this is an historical film, a museum piece in every sense of the word. The magical, enchanting adventures of Prince Achmed are brought to life by little more than paper cutouts, filmed in silhouette, on film treated with blazing colors! the viewer is swept away into magical Middle and Far Eastern lands, and is taken on an adventure with Prince Achmed and his great friend Aladdin. The Prince, looking beautiful and majestic in his Armour and scimitar sword, battles the evil African magician who has imprisoned his sister, the beautiful Dinar Sade. Swept away by a magic flying horse created by the magician, our Prince finds himself in a mysterious land, where he encounters the delicate and enchanting Paru Banu, the princess of a land inhabited by evil demons. The two fall in love, but his Princess is taken away by the demons of her own land. This is where he meets the boy Aladdin, who reveals to him a tale of an evil African magician, who stole away his beloved, who turns out to be Prince Achmed's own sister, Dinar Sade! Side by side, the two fight to save their Princesses from danger and death! This film is pure magic and should be seen by anyone with an interest in animation or classic cinema. The workmanship and detail of these paper cutouts must be seen to be appreciated; figures wearing lace and feathers so intricate you would not believe that this was simply paper. This project was many years in the making and the original film has been lost, due to age, but a wonderful copy exists today on DVD, to dazzle a new generation of film lovers. With the exception of Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Arabian Nights," the tales from these poetic books has never been presented in a more glorious way than in this 1926 German production, "The Adventures of Prince Achmed." Absolute highest rating.
Review of The Adventures of Prince Achmed
