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Fantasmagorie
(France 1908 Dir.Emile Cohl,Prod.Gaumont,synopsis.animation
Runtime: 2 min
The first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative
structure, but morphing into each other.
It may not seem like much to today's audience, who has been exposed to the
latest technilogical advances in animation, but Emile Cohl's Fantasmagorie
is one history's revolutionary groundbreakers in the field. Truly enjoyable
and admirable.
What a film this is! The film is under two minutes, and I can't remember
half of it. I seem to remember a woman with a very large hat getting it pulled
off, pants turning into umbrellas, men getting stabbed an dismembered, but
still walking around, houses turning into elephants, and many other images.
Cohl seemed to want to include every image he could think of in the film.
I'm sure he had no idea of the legacy he would leave. In fact, judging by
the showoffy nature of the film, it's almost as if, at the time, Cohl thought
he might be one of the only people on the planet who would ever be able to
make drawings move like that. Even today, with all the technological advances
in the field of animation, "Fantasmagorie" is entertaining. Despite the fact
that it has no plot or real point except to show off what animation can do,
and despite the relative crudeness of the drawings, its relentless, violent
energy, and short running time make it a joy to watch. I wouldn't expect
non-animation buffs to care much about it however. They'd probably enjoy
it, but would have hard time understanding the fuss.
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