Hasn't Disney always said Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length animated film? Not according to this article!
Well, I know Wikipedia isn't always reliable, but according to them:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. Although it was not the first full-length animated feature to be produced (the 1917 Argentinian film El Apóstol holds that distinction, and there are seven other earlier ones), it was the first animated feature to become widely successful within the English-speaking world and the first to be filmed in Technicolor.
And they later add:
Snow White is the second-oldest surviving film that meets the length requirement (70 minutes or more) to be considered for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The oldest is The New Gulliver from the USSR, the first feature film in history to combine live-action footage with stop motion animation. Snow White is also the first feature-length animated film produced in the United States and the oldest animated feature film in Technicolor. Six animated feature films - as defined by the AMPAS, the AFI and the BFI - were made before it: three traditionally animated films by Quirino Cristiani from Argentina; one using cut-out animation by Lotte Reiniger from the Weimar Republic; and two using puppet animation (the aforementioned-mentioned New Gulliver and The Tale of the Fox by Ladislas Starevich).
I'm very shocked! So, is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at least the first full-length hand-drawn animated feature?
The Adventures of Prince Achemd, is the first animated film in the world. It debuted in 1926. It's not exactly what you're thinking though, it is done with shadow puppets and such. It looks pretty good actually.
It looks like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first Completely Hand-drawn Animated full length movie. I doubt that this is a hugely groundbreaking discovery though. I think the "hand-drawn" part just gets lost when people are talking about it, although i didn't know this until now so it's good to have the story straight!
I can't recall what DVD I heard it on specifically (I believe it was the Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities set), but I do know that Disney doesn't claim that Snow White was the first animated feature film, that honor belongs to some films in Europe or so. But it was the first American animated feature.
I have to go with "The Adventures of Prince Achmed," because when it aired on TCM a year or two ago, the host, Clooney or Osbourne, I forget, said it was the first animated feature ever. It was pretty interesting, all stop-motion with cut-out silhouettes (sp?). Don't remember everything about it though.
while it is a sad truth, TECHNICALLY snow white imho is the first PROPERLY full length animated feature. achmed was just a technique of shadow puppet animated ala stop motion which didnt require much or any facial expression to sustain a certain kind of emotional impact on the audience. it was a visual wonder in a style of its own. snow white required realistic human animation with good screenwriting and a storyline that could hold an audience attention for more than an few minutes. achmed plays nothing more like a silent film only non comprising human actors. i'm not saying this as pro disney. yes shocking as it is.snow white isnt the first, but it holds the distinction to be the innovative first which somehow makes it the first of its kind that would lead to countless other animated films in its format.
achmed is available to download from torrent.thats where i got mine.
Not shocked - I was aware of some of this already. However, I'd say it doesn't really matter THAT much. It doesn't make Snow White any less of an achievement. And it's seemingly still the first animated feature that the public at large was aware of. In a thread in a different forum a while ago one guy was "dissing" Disney for not being the inventor of the very basics of animation...
Just for those of you who really want to see this film - Sunday night November 12 at Midnight Eastern Time 9 pm Pacific, Turner Classic Movies is airing The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1925) directed by Lotte Reiniger. It is an Arabian Nights fantasy all done in stop motion, and is very interesting. Set your DVR's or VCR's or whatever and catch this bit of history.
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dvdjunkie wrote:Just for those of you who really want to see this film - Sunday night November 12 at Midnight Eastern Time 9 pm Pacific, Turner Classic Movies is airing The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1925) directed by Lotte Reiniger. It is an Arabian Nights fantasy all done in stop motion, and is very interesting. Set your DVR's or VCR's or whatever and catch this bit of history.
That sounds interesting. Maybe I'll tune in. I'm very sad that Snow White isn't the first animated feature, but that really doesn't take away from the magic. I love Snow White <3
What do you mean if it comes on? This TCM not AMC, they have never messed up a scheduled movie that I know of.
That is a pretty negative statement. It will be on Sunday night, November 12 at the designated time.
Musicradio's known for making common grammar mistakes.
Anyways, thanks, Bill. Look forward to watching it, and maybe even buying the DVD (which according to amazon, has an hourlong making-of documentary as well).
Escapay
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It cleary states on the DVD (Region 1, in the booklet - "The Making of a Breakthrough DVD Experience") that Snow White was "America's first full-length animated film"
Disney never claimed it was "the world's first full-length animated feature", at least not that I can recall... But, you know, Disney likes play-on-words with these things...
Anyway, whatever you call it, Snow White was the first animated film with a strong worldwide impact.
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I saw "Grave of the Fireflies" tonight on TCM (after watching Iron Giant there, which I own the first DVD of but haven't watched in forever). "Grave of the Firflies" was the saddest movie I have ever seen!!!! Even my parents were watching it, and they don't really like "cartoons."
I want to thank Castleinthesky for reminding us that "Grave of the Fireflies" was on just before "Achmed". I would probably never have watched it because I don't really like Japanese Anime, but I will have to agree, this was a very sad movie. My wife used up a half a box of tissue she was in tears most of the time.
And what did you think of "The Adventures of Prince Achmed"?? Considering there is no 'real' print left of this movie, and they used a restored nitrate copy and added a new soundtrack, I thought it was pretty good. The animation was clearly ahead of its time, and the story was pretty inventive.
I will copy this and "Grave" to a DVD-RW today. They are both keepers.
The only way to watch movies - Original Aspect Ratio!!!!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
Oh man I missed it! Anyways it comes as a surprise that Snow White was not the first true full-length animated feature, but Snow White was more well known.
I'm looking at it right now, and on the back of my Walt Disney's Masterpiece Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs VHS, from 1994, it says:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the definitive Disney masterpiece. The first full-length animated feature ever made, it is timeless in its perfection and remains the most revered of all Disney films
I knew they had said that before! I'm sure it's been said in other places, but now I know I have hard proof. So, I'm thinking that before the internet became a great way to search for...everything, Disney never knew of Prince Achmed or the other seven full-length animated features before it. But still, it's another false claim, similar to the false claims of the original theatrical versions of films being on their DVDs...
In Disney-speak words such as "ever", "never", "forever", "most", "first", "last" and so on don't necessarily mean entirely what them seem to suggest...
That sounds interesting. Maybe I'll tune in. I'm very sad that Snow White isn't the first animated feature, but that really doesn't take away from the magic. I love Snow White <3
