Cinderella (Lotte Reiniger)

Before Walt Disney, Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981) pioneered silhouette animation. Several of her films were also based on fairy tales, including her 1922 masterpiece: Cinderella. I watched it for free on YouTube.

Unlike Disney's Cinderella and most other film adaptations, Reiniger's version is based on the Grimm Brothers' tale. As a thirteen-minute short film, Cinderella simplifies its source material to the core parts: Cinderella's abusive stepfamily, picking up lentils, transformation, the ball, and the slipper search.

Reiniger's Cinderella is the creepiest version I've seen. The black silhouettes, the flute music, and the lack of dialogue especially create this feeling. Plus, the mother's grave happens to be in an actual graveyard in this version; typical cemetery gates even appear before Cinderella's departure. One more thing that makes the film creepy is the stepmother's and stepsisters' ugly features.

The stepmother's and stepsisters' ugliness pose a problem in this feature. In the original Grimm Brothers' tale, the stepmother and stepsisters were beautiful on the outside but wicked at heart. Reiniger maybe wanted to show their villainy, but it can wrongly teach kids to associate ugliness with wickedness.

This version of the tale is mostly a basic retelling of the source material. The only creative elements are the prince finding Cinderella at her mother's grave and Cinderella going in and out of the cellar before and after her stepsisters try on the slipper.

There is not much technically wrong with Reiniger's Cinderella (it's a short film, after all), but I prefer more complexity and creativity in fairy tale movies. Hence, this film is just okay. 

Have you heard of Lotte Reiniger's films? What do you think of Cinderella?