Fantasmagorie

Considered the first fully animated film, Emile Cohl's 1908 "Fantasmagorie" departed from J. Stuart Blackton's 1906 "Humorous Phases" by showing a total hand-drawn movie rather than using a combination of live action, cut-out animation as well as hand-drawn scenes.

Cohl was inspired by Blackton's work in reflecting white lines on a black background. However, while Blackton used an actual blackboard to draw his figures, Cohl used 700 paper drawings, 8 drawings for each second, and then shot them onto negative film. He would shoot two frames for each drawing while his film speed was 16 frames per second. Cohl labored 5 months to create this 1 minute, 20 second cartoon. The viewer has to see this movie several times to catch the quick movements of morphings from one set of figures to the next.

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.

This is a pretty neat little film. It appears to be chalk on a blackboard. It has a little plot with a man trying to watch a movie when a woman with a huge hat sits in front of him. But there are other things that help make the two minutes memorable.

A few years ago I had a real passion for short films, seeking them out at festivals and on television, trying to see those considered as established and also those from first time or local artists. This fell off for some reason and I found myself watching more television which is not a problem but I did decide recently I should take the time to watch short films when I have the chance. Fantasmagorie was the one of the shorts I decided to watch, partly for the historical value but also for the good things I heard about it generally.

Watching it once was not enough though, because it is very short but also moves with real speed and energy. The animation consists of chalk drawings on a black background and without any narrative context they flow across the screen, seamlessly turning from one thing into another but making a sort of sense while doing so. Every second of it is creative and clever and engaging and, most importantly, a real joy to watch. The age of the film shows in the quality of the picture (or at least it did in the version I saw) but nowhere else. There is a real pleasure to it, a sense of wonder and excitement in the animation that has stayed with it for over a century.

A great little animation; it has historical value but you will only think of that afterwards because during your several viewings I suspect you'll be too busy keeping up and enjoying the passion and flow that the images have.

If you are a lover of the history of cinema, then FANTASMAGORIE is an absolute must--particularly if you are interested in animation. That's because this short little film is the first animated film and considering everything, it's a darn good one.

Instead of the usual structure, style and narrative, this film is rather unique and free-flowing. A series of drawings morph and change with no apparent rhyme or reason. In many ways, it's more like a work of art than a traditional cartoon and it's all done in black and white.

It must have taken a very, very long time to make and for 1908, it's an incredible little film. Sure, films made just a few years later would make this seem obsolete, but given the context, it's a grand little film.