Line #31 WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPrinceAchmed


1	%%
2	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16945264600.43933500
3	%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
4	%%
5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/princeachmed.png]]
6	%%
7	Made by Creator/LotteReiniger in 1926, ''Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed'' is the world's oldest surviving feature-length animated film, pre-dating ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' by a full decade.[[note]]Do note the "surviving" part; the ''actual'' first feature-length animated film in the world was Quirino Cristiani's ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Apóstol El Apóstol]]'' from 1917; however, Cristiani's entire filmography was rendered [[MissingEpisode permanently lost]] after a series of vault fires between 1918 and 1961, leaving ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'' the earliest feature-length animated film to still be viewable by the modern public.[[/note]]
8
9	Based on legends from ''Literature/TheArabianNights'', it tells the story of the travels of Prince Achmed, who is tricked by an evil magician into riding a flying horse that takes him to distant magical lands. He falls in love with ([[AbductionIsLove and kidnaps]]) Princess Pari Banu, and must fight to return home with her in time to stop his sister, Princess Dinarsade, from marrying the evil magician. Dinarsade's former husband Aladdin (of the magic lamp fame) and a helpful witch who is the magician's arch nemesis join him on his quest.
10
11	In addition to its age, the film is most notable for Reiniger’s highly unique animation style, which uses black silhouettes of the characters and set pieces against painted backdrops. While this might be perceived as limiting, the characters remain highly distinct and expressive. Each silhouetted figure in the film was hand-cut and animated by Reiniger frame by frame – a labor of love that took three years to complete.
12
13	----
14	!!''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'' provides examples of:
15
16	* ArabianNightsDays: Beyond the general ''Literature/ArabianNights'' vibe the story has, the main plot is taken from the ''Arabian Nights'' story "The Ebony Horse", with the story of ''Literature/{{Aladdin}}'' added to the second half.
17	* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played with. The heroes are all conventionally attractive, and the wicked magician is suitably grotesque. On the other hand, the ugly witch is a heroic character and the one who ultimately defeats the main villains.
18	* BondVillainStupidity: Rather than killing Achmed, the evil magician leaves Achmed stuck on top of a volcano while he swoops off to reclaim Dinarsade. Achmed then falls into the volcano's caldera, where he meets the witch, who agrees to help him.
19	* CatFight: When Achmed finally gets control of his horse and lands in the islands of Wak Wak, he finds himself in a castle populated by five beautiful women. They are all eager to kiss him, but when they start brawling with each other over Achmed's attention, he escapes.
20	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Each frame of the movie was tinted to convey the location and/or time of the scene. Day scenes are yellow, night/caves scenes are blue, some indoors scenes are green.
21	* CoolHorse: It flies!
22	* {{Crossover}}: Of several stories featured in ''Literature/TheArabianNights''.
23	* DamselInDistress: Both Peri Banu and Dinarsade.
24	* EarnYourHappyEnding: The heroes have to go through ''a lot'' of crap.
25	* EnemyMine: The Witch allies herself with Achmed mostly because she just wants to kill the evil magician. "He is my greatest enemy! And we are friends!" (Hilariously, she tells this to Achmed right after she tries strangling him.)
26	* {{Flashback}}: The story of ''Literature/{{Aladdin}}'' is told to Achmed by Aladdin in an extended flashback.
27	* GoodWitchVersusBadWitch: The Witch of the Fiery Mountain allies herself with the heroes to defeat the evil magician.
28	* HowDoIShotWeb: Achmed can't figure out how to make the horse fly down at first.
29	* HowWeGotHere: After Achmed rescues Aladdin from a monster, Aladdin tells him his whole story, up to the point where he meets the monster.
30	* HydraProblem: Towards the end of the film, Achmed fights a hydra-like monster, and every time he chops off one of its heads, two more grow back. Fortunately, the Witch intervenes and uses her lamp to cauterize the severed necks, thus preventing the heads from growing back.
31	* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The Emperor of China to Peri Banu. The evil magician never really manages to do this with Dinarsade.
32	* IncestSubtext: Might be a ValuesDissonance thing, but a scene from early on in the movie will raise an eyebrow or two -- when Achmed protects his sister Dinarsade from the sorcerer, they proceed to stare at each other intensely, with Dinarsade carressing Achmed's cheek.
33	%% (Tropeslashing is not allowed) * OutdoorBathPeeping / SkinnyDipping: No sooner do Achmed and the horse land beside a lake than Peri Banu and her handmaidens arrive and take a bath in said lake. Achmed watches from the bushes.
34	* PlayingWithFire: The witch and evil magician both resort to throwing fireballs at one another. The witch wins.
35	* RaceForYourLove: Achmed, Aladdin, and the witch race back to stop Peri Baru's forced marriage to the Emperor of China's weird little troll buddy.
36	* RescueSex: It's implied that Achmed and Pani Banu have sex in China.
37	* ShapeshifterShowdown: The witch and the evil wizard have one of these initially, then start throwing fireballs at each other when neither can beat the other that way.
38	* ShapeshiftingLover: Peri Banu and her handmaidens use feathered gowns to transform into birds. Which is a nod to the shapeshifting "Swan Maidens" and their feathered clothes in the folklore of Europe and Asia. Nearly every European country has a variation of the tale.
39	* ShipperOnDeck: At the very least, Achmed seems okay with his sister marrying Aladdin.
40	* StockholmSyndrome: After the shock of the original kidnapping wears off, Peri Banu seems more than happy to stay with Achmed. After Achmed is willing to let her go, she takes pity on him and even resists when the spirits of her homeland try to bring her back.
41	* StopMotion: Being the oldest surviving animated feature film period, this is also the oldest surviving example of a stop-motion animated feature, although the trope actually dates back at least as far as ''Animation/TheCameramansRevenge'' (1912).
42	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The horse is left behind in China when the sorcerer flies Achmed to the mountains.

Context WesternAnimation / TheAdventuresOfPrinceAchmed