Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This charming DVD turned out to be quite a surprise and got me wanting to watch it over and over again. The six short films on this disc are all quite different and span 46 years of animator Ladislaw Starewicz's work (1912-1958), but have in common the most impressive and unusual puppet animation I've ever seen. The first scenes (Cameraman's Revenge) are already most striking: very realistic-looking insects moving and behaving like people in a house, in a very human story about infidelity, complete with a good dose of humour and sarcasm - and all this in the year 1912! The next short film (they average around 10 minutes each, with the exception of "The Mascot" which is 26 minutes) also features insects, and then frogs take centre stage in the third film that deals with a political theme. In all of them I was struck by the realistic and smooth motions of all the 'characters', as well as the humorous storyline. If you have an aversion to insects and/or frogs, you'll be relieved when the fourth film ("Voice of the Nightingale") features birds and a real girl, and this time the film has lovely stencil colour - a technique applied to some early silent films - which makes it look like a soft pastel or watercolour painting, and it perfectly suits the fairytale feeling of this delightful story. Perhaps the most impressive of them all is "The Mascot" which features toys, dolls and other strange creatures coming to life, the mascot being a cute stuffed toy trying to get back home after being taken away with other toys. In this one, animated toys and puppets merge impressively with real street scenes and people, and dolls become so humanlike that it's scary. Finally, the last one from 1958 is in full colour and different once again, and although the last two films are from the sound era, hardly a word is spoken, which I think emphasizes the visual impact of the puppet animation. Although I'm not very familiar with animation in general and what it involves, I can't help being very impressed by Starewicz's talent and skill, and no doubt he desevers a prominent place in the pioneering and development of puppet animation. Definitely a must for anyone interested in animation, and certainly recommended for anyone curious to see something different, special and unforgettable.
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The legendary Ladislaw Starewicz created some of the most imaginative and loveliest works of puppet animation ever filmed. While working in Russia, he directed his first classic "The Cameraman's Revenge" (1912), a story of love and infidelity among the insects, and the recently rediscovered "The Insects' Christmas" (1913), a dazzlingly beautiful film of the yuletide celebrations of a Christmas-tree ornament and his tiny friends. After relocating to Paris, Starewicz made the political allegory "Frogland" (1922), the gorgeous hand-colored fable "Voice of the Nightingale" (1923), the irresistible "The Mascot" (1933) and the snowland fantasy "Winter Carousel" (1958). Starewicz's grasshoppers, dogs, frogs, dolls and other creatures portray heroics and follies with an exuberance of humor and invention. A delight for viewers both young and old!
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