Out of the Shadows
How Lotte Reiniger Made the First Animated Fairytale Movie

Name: Out of the Shadows
Brand: Dreamscape Media
Availability: InStock
Author: Fiona Robinson
ISBN: 9781666525700

Author: Fiona Robinson

Narrator: Natasha Soudek

Unabridged: 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Published: 03/01/2022

Categories: Children's Nonfiction, Biographical, Performing Arts, Film

Synopsis

Lotte Reiniger (1899–1981) was a German film director and animator best known for The Adventures of Prince Achmed, which was released in 1926 and is the oldest surviving animated movie. (It came out a full eleven years before Disney’s Snow White!) As a little kid, Reiniger loved reading fairytales and fell in love with puppetry. At school, she learned about paperschnitte, or papercuts, which helped her create her signature style of silhouettes. She grew up to make more than forty films throughout her long career, most of which were fairytales that used her stop-film animation technique of hand-cut silhouettes. Reiniger is now seen as the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation and the inventor of an early form of the multiplane camera.

About Fiona Robinson

Fiona Robinson is the author/illustrator of Whale Shines and What Animals Really Like, among other picture books. What Animals Really Like received the 2012 Irma Black Award, and Bank Street named it one of the 2012 Best Children's Books. Her work has been honored by the Royal Academy of Arts.

About Natasha Soudek

Natasha Soudek is an experienced actor, singer, and audiobook narrator. The daughter of two English professors, she grew up in the southern United States, Berlin, and Vienna. Her work includes Super Bowl commercials, television shows, playing sold-out live music shows, and appearing as the first blonde Vulcan in Star Trek history. She currently resides in New York City.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Panda on December 30, 2023

I was excited for this book as soon as I saw the cover and the title, and it lived up to my hopes. The illustrations are fascinating, creative, and inspired by the subject's work, and the text is excellent, sharing narrative details and technical explanations about this pioneering German woman's wor......more

Goodreads review by Betsy on January 16, 2022

I would be the first person to admit that I have no clue how an author goes about writing a biography in a picture book format. When you sit down and think it through, the very idea is ludicrous. An entire human life reduced to a mere 48-pages (at most)? The very nature of the endeavor reeks of hubr......more

Goodreads review by Kate on March 12, 2023

Still on a bit of a Lotte Reiniger kick as many of the book titles came in at the library in holds. This one I think has the most extensive detail in its illustrations. There are little Easter eggs and characters that Lotte Reiniger created in her films popping up along with sequential drawings show......more

Goodreads review by LS on April 05, 2022

The art is wonderful and the story is so unique. I’m glad the history about this remarkable woman is in print. I think it is noteworthy that at the end of the book it acknowledges that the initial films Reiniger made were not for children. “Children’s” films were not a separate genre at the time. In......more

Goodreads review by Meredith on January 30, 2023

I loved this - I feel like often picture book nonfiction is incomplete, but the main text offers tons of information with great illustrations (silhouettes like Lottie made!) and a "silent movie" format. One detail missing: I want to know how soap, paint, sand, and wax were used to create "the most m......more

Quotes

Robinson concentrates on Reiniger’s early career, culminating in Prince Achmed’s triumphant premier, and she spins the tale with once-upon-a-time panache.