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

An innovative picture book biography about an unsung hero of early animation

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 11 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 Scherenschnitte, or papercuts, which helped her create her signature style of silhouettes. She grew up to make more than 40 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. With art inspired by Reiniger's cut-paper style and a text that uses a fairytale motif that mimics her movies, Out of the Shadows is a sweeping tribute to one of most important figures of animation, whose influence still resonates today.


Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
Published: 02/08/2022
Pages: 48
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 12.10h x 9.10w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781419740855
Age: Ages 9-12


Review Citation(s):
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 12/01/2021 - Book Of Special Distinction
Publishers Weekly 12/20/2021
Booklist 01/01/2022 pg. 64
Horn Book Magazine 03/01/2022

About the Author
Fiona Robinson is the author and illustrator of The Bluest of Blues, Ada's Ideas, Whale Shines, What Animals Really Like, The Useful Moose, and The 3-2-3 Detective Agency. Her work has been honored by the Royal Academy of Arts and has been featured in many gallery shows. She lives with her family in Brooklyn.