Animation: Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed

"Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed, aka The Adventures of Prince Achmed, (1926): directed by Lotte Reiniger and Carl Koch, with the collaboration of Berthold Bartosch and Walter Ruttmann, based on the character Prince Ahmed, from the book 1001 Arabian Nights."

"It is the oldest surviving feature-length animated film, and it featured a silhouette animation technique Reiniger had invented..."

I would have had to post about ten images from this movie to give you an idea of how brilliant it is; it must be seen. Now it has been made possible by Videos with Bibi.

UPDATE:
This video is unfortunately no longer available. You have to be quick when things like this comes along!

UPDATE:
Stephen of ASIFA wrote to remind us of these articles:
Reiniger's Adventures of Prince Achmed Part One
Reiniger's Adventures of Prince Achmed Part Two

Thanks!

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Russian animation: Cheburashka

This is not the first time we mention Cheburashka* and his friend Gena the crocodile or Russian animation for that matter. You can read "all" about the little critter, including what he is or was in my home country Sweden, in Wikipedias article - the important thing right now is that Bibi posted some Cheburashka films on Videos with Bibi. Yes, I know, they are neither subtitled nor dubbed, but they are beautifully animated. So I suggest you at least have a look to see what Cheburashka is all about.

* "Cheburashka.../... is a character of children's literature from a story by the Russian writer Eduard Uspensky. He is also the hero .../... of the animated film series by Soyuzmultfilm studio." ... "Cheburashka is a funny little animal, unknown to science, who lived in the tropical forest. He accidentally got into a crate of oranges, ate his fill and fell asleep. Cheburashka is not a personal name; it is a species name invented by the puzzled director of the shop, where he was found."
According to Wikipedia only four Cheburashka films were made (1969, 1971, 1974, 1983).
In my home country - Sweden - we never got to see the films, we only had a Cheburashka puppet show as the children's segment of the TV-show "Sveriges Magasin". Here they were called "Drutten och Krokodilen (Jena)" and lived in a bookshelf; they were immensely popular.

Quotes from Wikipedia

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Animation & Nostalgia: The Tooth Trolls

This film is nostalgia for me even though it was made all the way back in 1954. Karius og Baktus (Karius och Baktus, Karius and Bactus e t c) is a Norwegian film by Ivo Caprino made with the pedagogical purpose of getting kids to brush their teeth properly. It features two irritating "tooth trolls" nesting in some kids teeth.

In the 70s they made us watch it in school several times and I know I thought it was kind of grim. Of course we preferred watching it to having regular classes. As if the film wasn't enough I was given the book, probably by my Norwegian godparents. Was it because I had bad personal hygiene? I would like to think not.

Click here or on the image to get to Bibi's excellent video blog Videos With Bibi (updated daily!!) and her equally excellent post called Ivo Caprino Short Stop Motion Animations I, where you'll find Karius and Bactus and four more films by Ivo Caprino.

Update: Ivo Caprino Short Stop Motion Animations II

By the way, if you like stop motion movies and you happen to stumble upon a movie called Flåklypa Grand Prix (Pinchcliffe Grand Prix) you should watch it. This is Ivo Caprino's masterpiece from 1975; also great nostalgia for me.

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Music Video: George Benson - Breezin (Live 1978)

Uplpoaded to YouTube by Robilah
George Benson

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Blog: Videos with Bibi

Now it is official - Bibi has started a video blog obviously called Videos with Bibi! For many of us it is no secret that Bibi of Bibi's Box has uploaded loads of films to Google Video. We are talking classic quality film, classic cult movies, historic silent films, old cartoons, artsy experimental shorts and films that quite simply are in public domain. So far, on the blog, we can watch for example: Kurosawa's Rashomon, Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, Fritz Lang's M, Murnau's Nosferatu, Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The man Who Knew to Much by Hitchcock. How's that for a lesson in cinematographic history? It doesn't stop there. We get to watch animated Gulliver's Travels by Dave Fleisher, early 20th century funny trick filming, semi-documentary German films from the 20s and WWII stories by John Ford and John Huston. And more. You can't expect me to tell you everything, can you? Look for yourself!

Videos with Bibi

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