A Fantasy

Original title: Fantasmagorie

1908
2m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

The first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other.The first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other.The first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other.

Director
- Émile Cohl

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

2.9K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Émile Cohl

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
To make this film, Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing-with variations-on top of it until he had some 700 drawings. In 1908, chalkboard caricaturists were common vaudeville attractions, and the characters in the film look as though they've been drawn on a chalkboard, but it's an illusion. By filming black lines on paper and then printing in negative, Cohl makes his animations appear to be chalk drawings.

Connections
Edited into International Festival of Animation (1977)

User reviews19

Review

Featured review

8/10

Don't judge this too harshly--it's a milestone in animation

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.