Lotte Reiniger returns to the Arabian fantasies of THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED with this tale of a Caliph and his vizier. The vizier's uncle wants to become caliph, so he makes sure they get their hands on a magic powder. If they say the magic word, they will be transformed into any animal they wish. To change back, they must bow throw times to the east, and say the magic word again. But should they laugh, they will forget the magic word and spend the rest of their lives as the animal. So they change themselves into storks, and while looking at other storks, laugh.
Whoops! I would have thought that too elaborate a series of events to make a good plan, and I would have been wrong. Still, that's not the end of the story, of course, and that's not the point of this fairy tale: it's full of Miss Reiniger's elaborately beautiful articulated silhouettes and gouache backgrounds, an intimate feast for the eye. Miss Reiniger's best work offered a childlike wonder and a peek behind the curtain for her audience, and this one offers that.
