Uploaded June 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Lotte Reiniger created visually stunning and fantastical films using black cardboard, scissors, and boundless imagination. Pre-dating Walt Disney by nearly a decade, Reiniger pioneered a style of animation that relied on thousands of photos of paper cut-out silhouettes arranged to tell a story. It was a painstaking process that involved moving paper characters ever so slightly and snapping a photo of each movement. She created many films over the years, including The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the oldest surviving feature length animation.
Nearly a century later, Reiniger continues to inspire animators and artists. On what would have been her 117th birthday, we celebrate Reiniger’s limitless creativity and pioneering spirit.
Original Music: Silas Hite (silashite.com/), Max Steiner Agency (maxsteineragency.com/)
See more Google Doodles at google.com/doodles
Lotte Reiniger created visually stunning and fantastical films using black cardboard, scissors, and boundless imagination. Pre-dating Walt Disney by nearly a decade, Reiniger pioneered a style of animation that relied on thousands of photos of paper cut-out silhouettes arranged to tell a story. It was a painstaking process that involved moving paper characters ever so slightly and snapping a photo of each movement. She created many films over the years, including The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the oldest surviving feature length animation.
Nearly a century later, Reiniger continues to inspire animators and artists. On what would have been her 117th birthday, we celebrate Reiniger’s limitless creativity and pioneering spirit.
Original Music: Silas Hite (silashite.com/), Max Steiner Agency (maxsteineragency.com/)
See more Google Doodles at google.com/doodles
