Adventures in (Armchair) Historical Research

Cover for Das Loch im Vorhang

One of the direct benefits of the Internet is the ability for researchers like myself to track down rare material in other countries. Not only is there a plethora of films from other countries being uploaded to sites like YouTube and Vimeo, but sites like Google Translate lower the communication barrier with their tools for translating foreign languages and in some cases, the ability to translate entire websites into English on the fly.

An example occurred earlier this year, when I was looking through my collection of works that involved Lotte Reiniger. Among the books I've located in the past were an original German copy of Venus in Seide , which featured Lotte's silhouette illustrations, or an old library copy of Walking Shadows from a bookseller in England -- Walking Shadows being a hardback essay written about Lotte by Eric Walter White, one of her former assistants. This essay is particularly interesting as it gives details into Lotte's animation process – along with a few plates with images of models that she created but never used in her films.

Well, while I was looking at the short list of publications that Lotte directly worked with, one that has eluded me for years piqued my interest. A quick visit to the normal sites that sold international books, such as Abe Books or the German antiquarian who sold me Venus in Seide, proved fruitless. Then, for some reason, I decided to switch gears. A quick search on the German-language version of Amazon.com, and there it was: a copy of Helmuth Krüger's Das Loch Im Vorhang (English translation: The Hole in the Curtain). It’s the only other book, that I am aware of, for which Lotte created silhouette illustrations (there may be more, I'm just not aware of any other than the aforementioned two). However, purchasing from Amazon.de proved fruitless. Google Translate wouldn't work on the Amazon website, and I couldn't figure out how to a) select international shipping or b) ask the bookseller if they
even would ship to America.

Illustration from 'Flucht in die Rulissen'
English translation: 'Escape to the backdrop'

After thinking about it for a day, I went back to Amazon and puzzled out the bookseller's name then tracked down their website. Lo and behold, there it was, listed on their website. And while struggling to figure out the German website, I made the welcome discovery that their shopping cart had an English-language feature. A month later, I had a very weathered copy of this book from 1922 sitting on my desk, and a smile across my face as I tried to translate the handwritten dedication that the author -- Helmuth Krüger -- had written to someone named Rolf. The images included in this article are taken of Lotte's silhouette illustrations to give readers an idea of how detailed her work was back then. For those interested in looking at all the illustrations in this book, a copy of Das Loch im Vorhang was scanned and posted on the Deutsche National Bibliothek website, which is accessible at the following link: https://portal.dnb.de/bookviewer/view/1128443937.

Ain't modern life grand?

'Sumurûn' illustration on page 89

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Notice regarding Yearly Women Animator Interviews

Greetings all,

I have made the decision to skip this year's interviews with women animators.

Reason being is actually an uplifting one: turns out that I was asked to teach animation history at a local university. As such, all the time I would have spent on doing interviews in 2019 was reallocated in order to read several books, prepare lectures, presentations, assignments and exams, locate and view films to show in class, locate visual aids, and all the other miscellaneous prep work that was required to teach a college-level course.

I apologize that I couldn't get any interviews prepared ahead of time, but there are only so many hours in a day and I'm already working two jobs between the day job and freelancing.

However, the women animator interviews will return in 2021 (and I may have a couple later this year to whet your appetite). In the meantime, I urge you to visit my Women of Animated Film FaceBook page as I am sharing a bunch of highlights, articles, and films spotlighting women animators over the month of March.

Thank you for your understanding,

Charles Wilson
Smudge Animation

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Animated Reviews: Ride Your Wave and Weathering With You

Watched a decent pair of films this month, no big surprise that both were from Japan.

Created by Masaaki Yuasa and Science SARU, Ride Your Wave was a good movie, but it's one that I don't ever want to see again as it touches on some really emotional concepts: the death of a loved one and dealing with the resulting grief. Ride Your Wave was a sad movie about dealing with grief but it is told in a lighthearted and quirky fashion which helps ease the mood of the film and keeps it from being a depressing film. Basically, when one of the love interests dies, the main character starts seeing them in water every time they hear their favorite song. I won't spoil the rest of the story, but watch this film with a box of tissues handy. Ride Your Wave was a beautiful departure from Yuasa's earlier trippier films (like Kick-Heart and Night is Long, Walk On Girl) that showcases how he has the range to tackle more serious stories.

The second film was Weathering With You: the story of a pair of paranormal researchers who are looking for a girl that could (possibly) control the weather. Directed by Makoto Shinkai, of Your Name fame, 'Weathering' was a beautiful film with lots of richly defined characters. But cinematically, I still felt like I've seen it all before. Don't get me wrong, it was a decent film and well worth seeing in the theater with it's richly illustrated backgrounds and lush scenery. Maybe not one I'd buy on DVD and add to my collection, but it was a film I'd watch again, though admittedly for some odd reasons. Y'see, while the main story was interesting enough, I honestly found the subplot with Paranormal Research Keisuke Suga who was trying to rebuild his life (with assistance from his niece Natsumi) in order to be reunited with his daughter far more interesting that the main storyline. I guess that was just where my head was at when I watched it, but his story of dealing with grief while still striving to be a good father really resonated with me.

 All-in-all, both films were quite enjoyable and a good watch for a rainy Saturday afternoon or an evening in.

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*images from official movie presskits found on the GKIDS website