1929-30: The Tale of the Fox

Introduction

So, there are two version of this film that I will talk about. While, they have pretty much the same story, it is important that you know about the differences between the two. The first one that I will talk about is the German version since that it the one I actually watched.

I think I should mention the fact that while I am counting this as the 1929-30 movie since it was completed in 1930, it was actually released in 1937 (German) and 1941 (French). It was originally, a French film.

I should also point out while this does have German/French speaking parts, I will not attempt to translate them like the last one, so I will be using only the English subtitles. I will translate the titles, though.

Synopsis

While the captions say that the English versions of the German title is, "Reineke the Fox", the translated version makes it "Reineke Fox". Anyway, the opening titles happen overlayed on a book. After they are done, A few animals appear at the top of the book. A voice says, "Silence! Hell's bells!" A fist appears and pushes the animals back into the book. The man whom the fist belongs to says, "What a hell of a row! What shameful behavior!" A small monkey walks in front of the book. The man continues saying, "This place is not a zoo! You are not at the zoo! You stand before a Court of Law" and should be ashamed with yourselves. I won't have you barking while the Court proceeds." He then talks to the audience saying, "I first have to introduce you individually." The book opens and the monkey is pushed away. The first character is Master Raven. Next is Lady Hen and Sir Cock. Next is Good Master Lampe, who is a rabbit. The narrator says that he does not know the distressing role he will play. Next to dogs, which are supposed to be witnesses are shown. Next, is the Wolf, Old Isegrim and his wife and child. Next, is The Badger, Reineke's distant cousin and the barrister in the country in which the story takes place. Finally, Reineke the fox is shown. He is the defendant.

The story begins with Reineke watching Master Raven, who is in a tree. According to the narrator, this scene is showing his first crime. Reineke greets Master Raven, who has a piece of bread in his beak. He compliments Master Raven. Reineke then requests that Master Raven sings. He does and by doing so, drops his bread, which Reineke catches. Eventually, Master Raven notices that the bread is gone, but it is too late. Reineke is already eating the bread. The narrator says that the moral of the story is that you should not sing with your mouth full. 

We are then introduced to the Royal Court. First, the Leopard, who is the High Chancellor of War. Next, the Donkey, who wears glasses and is the Royal Scribe. Next, the Bear, Master Brown. He is the Chamberlain. Next, the Lynx, who is the Executioner. Next is the queen, Lioness, who is King Lion's wife. She is shown knitting. However, Cat grabs her attention. Cat starts to play his lute. Cat starts singing. In song, he compliments Lioness. Cat then reveals that Cat is in love with her. Cat continues to serenade Lioness.

Elsewhere, we are introduced to King Lion. The story then really begins. King Lion calls for his scribe. King Lion says that he is sick of his kingdom harming each other. He then says that he is enacting a law that says that all animals must love each other. He then says that the law should be posted throughout the kingdom. 

Later, the Old Wolf does not like the message. Although, he tries to eat a flower, but it doesn't taste good, so he spits it out. Elsewhere, the Leveret, a rabbit, is happy with the proclamation and puts flowers around it. He then kneels and thanks God. Elsewhere, Reineke does not like the proclamation, so he rips it off where it was posted and runs away with it. 

Meanwhile, at a nearby town, the Dogs are guarding it. However, they are also playing a dice game. The two Dogs see something and it worries them. The spyhole is opened and a hand puts the proclamation up. 

Elsewhere, Reineke shows Lord Cock the proclamation. He reads it twice. The birds start to dance. Reineke notices Mummy (mommy) Hen. Reineke asks her to dance. She accepts and the two dance until she passes out. Reineke takes the opportunity to kidnap her. Lord Cock notices. The Dogs chase after Reineke. However, they could not catch him.

Back at the castle, complaints start piling up. They all seem to be about Reineke. Donkey, who has his arms full of complaint is asked, by King Lion, to read Sir Isegrim's complaint. Donkey lets go of the other complaints and takes Sir Isegrim's. 

Donkey then tells the tale of how in the winter, Sir Isegrim's wife complained and hit him with her broom, telling him that he needs to get food for his family. He then wonders off and finds Reineke cooking some fish. Sir Isegrim asks Reineke if he can have any, but Reineke says that the fish is too rotten, but he says that he will show him a place where he can get more fish. The two go to an ice fishing hole, where Reineke shows the Sir Isegrim how to fish with his tail. Sir Isegrim puts his tail in the water and daydreams about the fish that he will be given. However, the hole freezes, making his tail get stuck. Meanwhile, Reineke wakes up human farmers. They start to chase him. Sir Isegrim notices that his tail is stuck. While he tries to escape, Reineke runs back to the pond. Reineke hides in the snow near the pond. A farmer soon arrives. He tries to look for Reineke, but Reineke pops up and trips the farmer. He lands next to Sir Isegrim. The farmer starts hitting Sir Isegrim. Soon, Reineke does what he did to the farmer to another farmer. The second farmer starts to hit Sir Isegrim. One more farmer joins them. Sir Isegrim manages to escape, but it loses his tail in the process. 

Badger spins a different tale. He tells the tale of how Reineke left his cubs and wife behind to look for food. He searched for hours. Eventually, he spotted a fisherman with a carriage. Reineke played dead in the path of the fisherman. He notices Reineke and stops. The fisherman believes that he is dead and puts him in the carriage. In the carriage, Reineke started throwing the fish out as a path back to his home. However, Sir Isegrim starts eating the fish. He then stops when he eats the biggest fish.

King Lion is already thinking about his final judgment when Leopard shows another complaint. He says that the Lampe Family was praising God with a canticle. Reineke shows up, pretending to be a monk, and joins the choir. He takes control of the hymn. A rabbit shows up at the door. the rabbit and Reineke start singing. He then takes the neck of the rabbit. Leopard is watching this happen. The Leveret, which was the rabbit, was scared to death. Reineke stops when he notices Leopard. The Leveret ends up with the hymn paper in his mouth.

Leopard says that if he had not seen the crime, Master Hare would not be around. King Lion asks Master Hare if this is true. Stuttering, Master Hare says that it is. Badger interjects. He says that Master Hare is lying and that Leopard is wrong.

Badger then spins the tale of how Reineke was praying when he notices Master Hare playing around. Master Hare, who is playing bells walks up and Reineke keeps repeating, "O filius meus!", which means, "Oh, my son!" and tells Master Hare to stop ringing the bells. He then punishes Master Hare. Unlike the first story, which showed Reineke only doing good, this one shows him in a much less good light.

For some reason, Master Hare rips his complaint. He then faints after King Lion questions him. King Lion makes his decision. He says that Reineke is cleared of his charges. A few seconds later, chickens come in with the body of the deceased Mummy Chicken. It is revealed that she is just bones and a few feathers. While Lord Cock tells King Lion about the story of Reineke coming to the town and kidnapping his wife, Cat offers Queen Lioness some hors d'oeuvres, which are roasted chicks. Badger tries to defend Reineke, but King Lion stops him. Badger wants to continue, but Lynx ties some rope around Badger's mouth. Lynx takes Badger away. Master Hare is then trying to put his complaint back together. King Lion orders Master Brown to go to Reineke's house and bring him to the castle, dead or alive.

At Reineke's house, they are peaceful. One of his cubs, Gnat (we learn that later), is sleeping, but wakes up. Reineke's wife tries to bottle feed, but the baby wants her breast milk. The scene then shows her doing so.

Outside, Reineke's other two kids act out the apple scene from William Tell. A rabbit is put in place of Tell's child. The cubs shoot all around, but mostly miss, which scares the rabbit. Eventually, they stop because they see Master Brown. They shoot arrows at his butt, but he keeps going. Reineke's cubs tell their father about Master Brown. They quickly make Reineke look like he is alone in bed with an injury. Master Brown arrives. He shows Reineke the order to bring him back, but notices honey combs. Reineke says that if Master Brown wants more honey, he can give him some.

The next scene shows the two at a tree trunk. Reineke says that if Master Brown wants some honey, he will have to put his mouth in there and search for it. Reineke his Master Brown with a hammer and his is stuck. Reineke then goes to the farmers and tells them about Master Brown. They start hitting him. Master Bear manages to escape.

Back at the castle, King Lion and Queen Lioness are eating dinner. Master Brown shows up. He is bleeding, complaining, wailing, and crying. The King swings a bone and breaks the table. Queen Lioness is distracted with the Cat. She has a mouse on a string. He catches it. He then takes out a piece of paper, studies it, puts it away, and then starts playing his loot and singing. King Lion does not like this singing. King Lion notices Cat and tells him to come to him. He orders Cat to bring Reineke to him.

At Reineke's house, he is skinning a rabbit, likely the one from the arrow scene, who is still alive. Cat approaches. One of the cubs warns of Cat's arrival. The family quickly changes the room to show Reineke playing the harp with flowers on his head and around the room. Above there is a mouse, who is tied to a cage. The mouse is forced to play along. Cat loves the music that he hears coming from Reineke. When Cat shows up, Reineke and the mouse sing a song about a cat and a mouse. Reineke says that there are mice at Mouse Castle, which seems more like a bar than a castle. Inside Mouse Castle, there is a female mouse is on a trapeze, a band, and a female stripper mouse. Cat says that he wants to go there.

Reineke takes Cat to Mouse Castle. Cat enters and is greeted to a beating by lots of mice.

Back at King Lion's castle, Cat shows up. He is mangled, crippled, and half-blind. Cat reports what Reineke has done, while Queen Lioness begins to laugh. King Lion yells that he wants Reineke brought to him. The scene ends with a look back at the storybook and the narrator says, "To hang a thief, you have to catch him first.

There is a 25 second intermission before Act 2 starts. What's that? You didn't know there was a second act? Yeah, neither did I before watching this. They don't indicate that the first part is Act 1 at all.

Act 2 begins with the storybook again. The narrator recaps the first act. The narrator and the monkey are then shown next to a projector. The monkey then starts the projector.

King Lion orders Badger to bring Reineke to the court. At Reineke's house, the Badger attempts to convince Reineke to do so. Reineke says that he will because he does not think he is as bad as everyone is saying he is.

Reineke goes to the castle. Here, he is greeted by Donkey, who has a document that says that Reineke is to be hung.

In the next scene, Reineke is in the noose, about to be hung. He tries to think of a way out. There is a crowd of animals around the platform. A choir sings and nearby, King Lion and Queen Lioness are seated to watch the execution. Donkey says that Reineke is being hung because he is guilty of many crimes. Reineke says a poem-like final speech as crows wait to feast on his body. In the final speech, Reineke mentions a treasure that he has supposedly buried. King Lion interrupts asking about the treasure. Reineke thinks that King Lion is stupid. Reineke walks over to King Lion. Reineke says that Bear, who supposedly wants to be king, Cat, who supposedly wants to be marshell, and the Wolf, who supposedly would be the King's murderer, are conspiring against him. King Lion believes him and sends the three to the dungeon.

In the next scene, the King's staff are digging for the treasure in a desert mountain. King Lion imagines the treasure and starts digging. They do not find anything.

Meanwhile, at Reineke's house, Gnat is shown in his basket. His other two siblings are downstairs and he hears them roughhousing. The baby screams and the other two siblings hide. Gnat searches for his siblings and makes his way downstairs to pee, but is greeted by his siblings, who toss him around. Eventually, Gnat lands on one of his siblings' head and pees.

Outside, an army is waiting to take Reineke away. King Lion gives Leopard a horn that indicates when the war is over. King Lion sends Wolf to the Reineke's castle first. Wolf asks Reineke to come down. Reineke does not do that. A plank goes out and Wolf is swept into the moat. Wolf manages to escape and goes back to the King. Next, King Lion sends Master Brown. He requests that Reineke come down. Reineke does not do that. He goes downstairs and one of his older children lower the drawbridge, but starts to do it fast, which makes more planks go out, causing Master Brown to be sent into the moat. He too returns, but we do not get to know that until later. With the drawbridge lowered, the army walks across it, but it is then lowered even more and the troops on the drawbridge fall into the water. The rest of the army starts attempting to invade. The family is able to thwart the attack for a little while using tricks and contraptions, but eventually the contraptions start to fail and the army is able to enter. Meanwhile, Leopard gives Master Cock the horn. Gnat sees Master Cock and grabs a fly, which is on a hook, which is on some rope. Gnat sends down the bait and Master Cock falls for it. Gnat pulls until Master Cock is there, but loses his grip and Master Cock falls. Later, Gnat notices that Master Cock dropped the horn and blows in it, which makes the army go home and Leopard to be angry at Master Cock.

Wolf stays because he wants revenge. Reineke slips through a hole and Wolf follows. Reineke goes to a well and gets a drink of water, but accidentally falls into the well. The Wolf also sees the well and wants water, but when he is getting it, he notices Reineke inside. Reineke says that he is dead. He says that he is in paradise and says how great it is. Wolf wants to go, so he pulls Reineke out so that he can be in paradise. As Reineke leaves and old lady is about to fill a bucket when she gets scared and runs away. She comes back with a few other people to see that there is a wolf in their well. They get him out and he is beaten.

In the next scene, King Lion has arranged a duel between Wolf and Reineke because he thinks that Wolf can kill Reineke this way. The two fight, but Reineke wins. He does not kill Wolf, but leaves him wounded. King Lion then pardons Reineke because of his wit and courage. He also makes Reineke part of the council. Gnat is then shown soaking up his father's glory.

French vs. German

There are a few differences between the French and the German versions of this movie and I will explain them here. I will not do every small difference, but the major differences.

1. The name of the Movie. Translated from French, it is "The Fox's Novel", but translated from German, it is, "Reineke (the) Fox".
2. In the German version (GV), there is relative darkness before the film starts, but in the French version (FV), there is not.
3. While GV just goes straight to the storybook, FV has a scene where the Narrator and the Monkey are shown next to the projector, making the Act 2 opening make more sense in FV than GV. The opening credits in GV are overlayed on the book, but in FV, it is slides in the projector.
4. In GV, it is implied that the narrator is a live action human, but in FV, it is shown that he is puppet monkey, who looks like a judge.
5. In FV, the narrator introduces the story, but in GV, animals are shown misbehaving before the characters are introduced.
6. In FV, it is Sir Cock, but in GV, it is Master Cock.
7. In FV, he is "Poor Coward" and "Hare", but in GV, he is referred to as, "Good Master Lampe", "Master Lampre", and "Master Hare".
8. The introduction of the hare character is different. In GV, the introductions is treated like he is about to be apart of the trial, but in FV, it gives his personality.
9. In GV, they are just called, "Dogs", but in FV, they are given the names, "Renaud" and "Cerberus".
10. The dogs are referred to as just witnesses in GV, but in FV, they are sergeant majors.
11. In FV, Wolf's family is noted in the introduction, but in GV, they are not. In fact, Wolf's wife is named, "She-Wolf".
12. In GV, he is called, "Badger", but in FV, he is called, "Master Badger".
13. In GV, Badger is a distant cousin of Reineke. In FV, he is just Reynard's barrister.
14. In GV, he is called, "Reineke", but in FV, he is called, "Reynard" and "Fox".
15. Extended scene. There is a little bit more at the beginning of the Master Raven bread scene in FV than GV. This scene in FV makes him more like a hero than an anti-hero like GV makes it seem like he is.
16. In GV, it is almost exclusively narration with only a few voices used for singing. In FV, it is almost exclusively voices with only a few parts of narration for when it is necessary.
17. In FV, he sings, but in GV, he does not.
18. In FV, it cuts to Reynard during the singing, but in GV, it does not cut to Reineke.
19. In FV, the end of that scene is the narrator saying that the Raven would not be taken advantage again. In GV, it is the narrator saying the moral of the tale.
20. In FV, the next scene is Wolf's story. In GV, the next scene is introducing the characters of the royal court.
21. In GV, it is just said to be winter in Wolf's story, but in FV, it is stated to be New Years' Eve.
22. In GV, Wolf's wife tells him to get food, but in FV, She-Wolf says, "fish".
23. In GV, Wolf's children are shown in the scene, but in FV, they are not.
24. In GV, Reineke says the reason that he should not eat the fish is because they are not fresh. In FV, the reason that Wolf is stopped by Reynard is because Wolf is stealing the fish.
25. In GV, the wolf daydreams of fish, but in FV, he does not.
26. In FV, there is a close-up shot of Wolf trying to escape the ice, but in GV, there is not.
27. In GV, it shows Wolf going home and then shows the tail in the ice, but in FV, it shows the tail and then Wolf going home.
28. In FV, the home scene is longer, showing She-Wolf partially in a chest and some meat being taken from the fireplace with Reynard being shown taking the meat on the roof. It then shows him running away.
29. After the scene in the last point, FV cuts to the complaints, which are more clearly about Reynard than in GV, which made it unclear if the complaints were about Reineke or the King's proclamation.
30. In FV, the Queen is introduced using the hors d'oeuvres scene. She is mentioned to be charming, coquettish, and greedy. GV more shows these traits than tells them to the audience.
31. In FV, the hors d'oeuvres are called, "Ortolan brochettes", but in GV, they are roasted chicks.
32. In FV, the clerk reads the complaint and then accuses Wolf of making the story up. She-Wolf and the children are shown. Renaud and Cerberus are also shown. In GV, Donkey reads the story instead.
33. In FV, Master Badger tells about how good Reynard is and about his family. The movie uses the footage that was used in the German version as establishing Reineke's home when Master Bear showed up. 
34. In GV, Gnat is the runt, but in FV, he is just a new-born child.
35. In FV, it is stated that Reynard has four children in total, but in the GV, there appears to only be three.
36. In FV, Wolf is only once shown during the cart-chasing scene before he is shown with the big fish. In GV, he is shown twice.
37. In FV, when Wolf is shown with the big fish, their is a focus circle around him, but in GV, there is not.
38. In FV, it explains that Hare was drunk on wine as the reason he was acting so weird in Master Badger's version of the story. In GV, it is just that he was childish.
39. In FV, right after the decision is made, the decree is also made. In GV, the decree is right after Cat singing to the Queen scene.
40. In GV, there is an introduction to the royal court, but in FV, there is not.
41. In FV, the cat singing to the Queen scene is shown after the decree scene. In GV, it is right after the introduction to the royal court.
42. In FV of the cat singing to the Queen scene, the song comes before the knitting. In GV, it is the other way around.
43. In FV, the cat's song is longer than in GV. 
44. In FV, the proclamation shows that people who break the rules will be hanged, but in GV, it does not. (Well, it does, but it not pointed out by the captions.)
45. In FV, the rabbit is the first one to see the proclamation, but in the GV, it is Wolf.
46. In FV, there is a song scene after the rabbit reads the proclamation that is not in GV. In this scene, the pre-cat interior Mouse Castle footage is shown.
47. In FV, the next scene is Wolf's reading of the proclamation.
48. In FV, the next scene is the well scene, starting with Wolf getting a drink.
49. The "Heaven" scene is longer in FV than in GV.
50. In FV, the next scene is the Lady Hen's body being carried into the castle.
51. In FV, the next scene is the kidnapping scene, starting from when Reynard put the proclamation up near the dogs. The scene is a bit shorter than in GV.
52. In FV, he is called, "Captain Bear" and in GV, he is called, "Master Brown".
53. When the Captain Bear is coming Raynard's castle, instead of the William Tell scene and the scene that is in the French version has already shown, it goes straight to one of the older cubs telling Reynard about Captain Bear.
54. FV shows what is on the paper that the Cat takes out. GV does not.
55. Right after the cat is shown walking to Reynard's castle, one of the cubs is shown playing with a frog.
56. FV and GV have different songs when Cat comes to Reynard's castle.
57. In FV, it is called, "Mouseland", but in GV, it is called, "Mouse Castle".
58. In FV, it cuts to Cat and Reynard after the exterior pre-cat footage is shown, instead of having Cat ask to go there like in GV.
59. In FV, the Cat's beating is a lot shorter than in GV.
60. In FV, after the Cat is beaten up, it cuts to him at the castle. In GV, there is a small part showing the King and Queen alone before he shows up.
61. In FV, Lynx gets Master Badger from his prison cell. In GV, Badger is never in a cell.
62. In FV, there is no Act 2 or Intermission, which might explain why there was no "Act 1" card shown in GV.
63. In FV, Reynard says he will think about it that night and get back to Master Badger. In GV, he just says that he will go.
64. In FV, the fight, which is the ending of GV, is a dream. In the dream, Reynard is defeated, instead of being the victor in the ending of GV.
65. In FV, Reynard briefly explains the treachery before he leaves the noose. He later goes into detail like he does in GV.
66. In FV, Cat plays a different role in the conspiracy than in GV.
67. In FV, the digging scene is longer and they show that it was not the prisoners, but his staff, who does the digging. GV made this unclear.
68. In FV, the fantasy is not required for the King to start digging.
69. In FV, the extended scene allows for an explanation of why the battle starts.
70. In FV, the Gnat's pee scene is not shown, but is in GV.
71. In GV, all the soldiers fall into the moat, but in FV, one does not and is taken into the castle.
72. In FV, how Wolf falls is shown. In GV, it is not.
73. The trap scene is a bit different between the two versions. 
74. In FV, it is shown when the battering ram is introduced. In GV, it is not.
75. In FV, they say Sir Cock betrayed them, but in GV, it is just said that he ruined the plan.
76. Instead of Wolf staying behind out of revenge, the well scene happening, and the battle like in GV, the next scene is Reynard getting a seat on the council.
77. In FV, when Gnat is shown at the end, his diaper falls off and he throws it in the air saying, "That's all folks."
78. In FV, the book is closed by Reynard and the projector is shown again. The monkey stops the projector and bows. The man then takes the monkey away and puts up a sign that reads, "Fin".

Characters

Unfortunately, since the characters are so different in the two versions, I cannot really talk about them.

 The one that really remains consistent is Reynard/Reineke, who is a clever thief, who is more of an antihero than a hero.

Animation

While the animation is not the best, it is okay. I'll talk about what it reminds me of in the next section. I think the effects were well done. I really liked the special hitting effects.

Similarities

The animation is very similar to the style used in Fantastic Mr. Fox.

The trap scene reminded me of Home Alone, more so in the German version than the French Version.

Apparently, the Master Raven bread scene is a reference to a fable where the same thing happened.

Conclusion

If you like the animation of Fantastic Mr. Fox and the story I gave, then I suggest watching it, but if you really don't like that animation style, I would stay away from this one.

1925-6: The Adventures of Prince Achmed

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

100 Years of Animation is a series, where I will review animated movies from every year leading up to the 100^th anniversary of animated feature films, which will be on November 9, 2017. However, since some movies have been lost and in the beginning, not every year had at least one movie, so I will be skipping a few, which is why there won’t be 100 reviews.

Since the first movie was released on November 9, 1917, the years will go from November 9, one year to November 8, the next year.

Even though I don’t think I need to say this, this series will contain spoilers. This will be the only warning. I am not going to say it every video.

We start our journey with the 1925-26 movie, “The Adventures of Prince Achmed”, which is the oldest animated film. However, it is not the first. In fact, it is the third. The first two are considered, “lost”.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed The Adventures of Prince Achmed. However, this does not mean there are not flaws. The plot is rather primitive and there a plenty of illogical elements. The English dub is also not very good.

Let’s start with the plot. The film is split into five acts.

After introducing the characters, the first act focuses on the African magician or is he the sorcerer? The English dub calls him “The Sorcerer”, but the captions call him, “The Magician”. When one translates what is on the screen, one will find that they are the same thing in German. Let’s just call him the African Sorcerer. Anyway, the African Sorcerer conjures up a magic horse, but apparently, he needs to show off that he can make other animals before he can make the horse. He then conjures up a handle, which he attaches to the back of the horse. He then quickly tests the horse and it floats. He stops and conjures up clothes. I guess he was naked. I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. I guess it might just be outerwear.  Anyway, he magically puts them on. He then conjures a mirror, looks at himself, and then makes it disappear. He then pulls the handle that he pulled earlier to make it fly. He and the horse then fly away.

In the next scene, the Caliph, who is like the king, is having a birthday. After people preform for him, the Sorcerer appears with the magic horse. The Sorcerer explains that the horse can fly. He then gives a demonstration. I almost forgot. The movie feels compelled to remind us who the characters are, even though it has only been four minutes from the first time these characters were introduced. Anyway, the sorcerer grabs a flag and brings it down. The Caliph gives him gold, but the Sorcerer does not accept. I guess the Sorcerer just came to the Caliph to gloat that he can make a magical horse. Anyway, the Caliph offers the Sorcerer anything he wants that the Caliph has to get the horse. The Sorcerer sees Princess Dinarsade, the Caliph’s daughter. He wants her. However, her brother, Prince Achmed, intervenes. The Sorcerer somehow convinces Achmed to get on the horse. He tells the Achmed how to fly with the horse, but not how to get down. The Caliph sees his son flying away and makes his guards surround the Sorcerer.

In Act 2, the Sorcerer, who if you only watch the first act, might think is the main character, even though it is Prince Achmed, finds himself surrounded by guards and Achmed is flying away. The Caliph asks the Sorcerer how to bring the horse down. The Sorcerer tells the Caliph that Achmed must use the back handle. The Caliph asks if Achmed knows this. The Sorcerer shrugs. Meanwhile, with Achmed, he is still flying in the sky. He tries to bring the horse down, but nothing works. He goes through a storm. For some reason, they cut to the Sorcerer, who is imprisoned. They then return to Achmed, who might be in space. Achmed then finds the back handle and pulls it, which makes him go down. He then lands on a magical island in a part of the world called, “Wak-Wak”. That isn’t real by the way, but apparently, it’s a place in Magic the Gathering. More specifically, he lands on a palace’s balcony. The prince then enters, kisses some girls, and then leaves, even though the girls want him to stay. The movie tries to make it seem more magical than that or something, but that is exactly what he did. Oh, I almost forgot about the fact that he broke a hanging bed. I guess the purpose of the scene is to introduce Peri Banu, who is the ruler of Wak-Wak. After flying away from the palace, Achmed lands on an island either with a magic lake, on the Magic Sea, or just in the sea depending on which version of the story you are following, which is the translated, subtitles, or dub version. Peri Banu and a few of her subjects fly in with bird costumes. Achmed hides behind a bush. Like every good protagonist would do, Achmed looks at the naked women bathing. Again, like every good protagonist, Achmed steals Peri Banu’s bird costume. After the women are done bathing, Achmed reveals himself and Peri Banu’s servants fly off. Peri Banu runs away and Achmed chases her. After she stops. He asks her to come to his home with him. Yes, she’ll totally want to do that after you stole her bird costume and chased her. Peri Banu demands to have her bird costume back. She starts running again and he chases her again. She stops and faints. He then takes her and puts her on his horse. He then grabs the bird costume and then the two fly away. The narrator and the captions both confirm that what he did was kidnapping.

The horse later lands in China. Achmed puts Peri Banu and her bird costume next to a tree. Peri Banu wakes up and sees Achmed. He tells her to not be afraid of him. Depending on the story you follow, he tells her that he will serve her until the end of time or his death. Depending on which version you follow, Peri Banu either tells him that he does not know the demons of Wak-Wak or the power of the spirits of Wak-Wak. For the rest of the film, the narrator will refer to demons, which are featured in both the translated and caption versions of the story, as “spirits”. Peri Banu tells Achmed that they will kill him, but the narrator doesn’t seem too concerned. Again, there is a variation on the story. Achmed tells Peri Banu one of the following: “Allah’s mercy will protect us if you will be my wife,” “Allah's grace protects us when you become my wife,” or “Allah’s grace will protect us if you become my wife.”

Meanwhile, the Sorcerer has been looking for his horse. It then immediately cuts to the scene, where he is in chains from earlier. You can’t really search for something when your locked up, can you? Anyway, he summons a tiny version of the horse. It flies around in a few circles, then the Sorcerer, summons a window, which shows where Achmed, Peri Banu, and the horse are. The Sorcerer quite easily escapes the chains. Like, seriously, did they even try? He then transforms into a bat and flies out of his cell.

Back with Prince Achmed and Peri Banu, Achmed says, “We will find our way home and you will forget about Wak-Wak,” “We will find our home and you will be wak-wak,” or “We will find our home and you will forget about Wak-Wak.” Peri Banu starts crying. Achmed feels bad and gives her the bird costume, which I guess is supposed to symbolize that he is willing to let her go back home. That is apparently all Peri Banu needs for her to instantly be in love with him. She then tells him that she will follow him, which in both the caption and narrator version, she is showing a lot less excitement for than in the translated version. Achmed gets close to her and kisses her hand a bunch.

Meanwhile, the Sorcerer, who is still in bat form, lands nearby. He then transforms into a kangaroo and grabs the bird costume while Achmed and Peri Banu are kissing. The two notice and Achmed chases after the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer, being a Kangaroo, easily jumps over a pit, but Achmed, only being a human, does not. The Sorcerer then leaves the bird costume on a branch and heads back to where Peri Banu and the horse are. Shortly after leaving Achmed, the Sorcerer transforms back into his human self. He then summons a hat and puts it on. He then summons a box and brings it to Peri Banu. He bows and gives her the gift. She opens it and he says that it is a garment or robe from Achmed.

Meanwhile, Achmed tries to escape the pit, but a large snake appears. He then easily strangles the snake and it just happens to die in a way that allows Achmed to use the snake as a rope.

Back with the Sorcerer and Peri Banu, he looks at her, who is now wearing the garment. He then tells her that he is to take her to Achmed.

Back with Achmed, he climbs the snake up to the surface and then grabs the bird costume.

The sorcerer brings Peri Banu the horse and grabs her and the two fly away on the horse.

Achmed returns to find neither of the two there.

Act 3 begins with hands playing some bells. The emperor of China is then introduced and his design is borderline racist. The next character introduced is either the Emperor’s favorite or jester, depending on which story you follow. It is revealed that he was the one playing the bells. The Sorcerer comes to sell Peri Banu to the Emperor. The Sorcerer gets a lot of money. The Emperor has Peri Banu to sit besides him.

Meanwhile, with Achmed, he mourns his loss.

Elsewhere, the Sorcerer, who is riding the horse, lands somewhere and throws his bags of money on the ground. He then turns them all into creatures. He uses them to fly back to Achmed. The Sorcerer grabs Achmed. The Sorcerer and his creatures take Achmed away.

Back with the Emperor and Peri Banu, one of the following happens: She either pleases him, he likes her, or he smiles at her. He gives her a flower and wants a kiss, but she backs up. He grabs her and while wrestling free, she knocks his crown off his head. He puts on the crown, but is angry at her for knocking it off his head. He kicks her off the chair and yells for the guards. They and his Jester/Favorite come. The Emperor tells his Jester/Favorite to… wait, here’s the part where things get weird if you follow the different versions. For most of them, there is just a small difference in wording that really doesn’t matter to the story. However, this time, the wording is weird. So, in the captions, it reads, “Kill her or make her your wife!” The translated version is this: “Kill her or take her wife!”. The narrator says, “Kill her or take her to wife!” The captions is the only one that is correct. The translated version suggests that Peri Banu has a wife and he should take the wife or kill Peri Banu and the narrator version suggests that he should either kill Peri Banu or take her to the Emperor’s wife, which isn’t even a character that is shown. In fact, the previous scene suggests he doesn’t have a wife. Anyway, after that mess of a line, the Jester/Favorite kisses her.

Back with the Sorcerer, his creatures, and Achmed, they are above a dormant volcano, which is surrounded by fire. The Sorcerer and his creatures drop them off at the top of the volcano. The Sorcerer then turns the creatures into a boulder and puts it on Achmed. Reminding the audience of his original intention, the Sorcerer says that he will get Achmed’s sister. Achmed tries to fight under the boulder, but cannot. The Sorcerer somehow flies away. It’s possible that he did not turn all the creatures into the boulder, but that cannot be confirmed. Inside the mountain, a witch and her creatures notice Achmed. She throws a few creatures out of the volcano’s top and they grab Achmed and bring them to the Witch. The creatures were also somehow able to turn the boulder back into a bag of gold.

The Witch asks why he entered her magic mountain. Achmed says that the Sorcerer brought him there. The Witch and Achmed fight for some reason. The Witch begs for Achmed to stop and says that the Sorcerer is her greatest enemy. She then says that Achmed is her friend, likely using the “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” logic. The two shake hands.

Back in China, a horn instrument is being played.

It then cuts back to the Witch and Achmed. Achmed asks the Witch to help him free Peri Banu. The Witch says that she does not fear the demons/spirits. The witch turns some lava into a bow, arrows, a sword, and a suit of armor. She says that with the weapons he will defeat the demons/spirits. Achmed puts on the helmet.

Back in China, Peri Banu waits to be married to the Emperor’s Jester/Favorite.

Back in the Magic Mountain, the Witch gives Achmed, who is now in the armor, the weapons. The Witch uses a snake to levitate Achmed and her out of the top of the mountain. The two start flying away, but then they stop.

Back in China, the wedding is starting. The Witch and Achmed are above the ceremony. Achmed says that they must stop the wedding. The Witch and Achmed land and arrive where Peri Banu has been taken after the wedding. The Emperor’s Jester/Favorite outside and the Witch just flings him out of the way.

Inside, some women start to take her away, but Achmed stops them by entering the building. Peri Banu runs to him. Achmed tells the women to go away and they do. The two kiss. Achmed takes her to a bed and the two start kissing again.

Meanwhile, the demons/spirits of Wak-Wak are looking for Peri Banu, their ruler.

The demons/spirits appear outside the building. The witch sees them and runs away. The demons/spirits, who are giant in this shot, easily remove the top of the building. They then enter the building, becoming much smaller. Achmed tries to defeat the demons/spirits, but they manage to take Peri Banu and fly away. With one demon/spirit left, who is in the arms of Achmed, he demands that the demon/spirit take him to Wak-Wak. The demon/spirit does so. They follow closely behind Peri Banu. Once they get to Wak-Wak, the demon/spirit drops Achmed close to a mountain, which closes when the demons/spirits and Peri Banu enter it.

It is revealed that the mountain is the gates of Wak-Wak. It is also revealed that it will only open to the one who has Aladdin’s magic lamp.

Act 4 begins with Achmed, feeling defeated after the mountain closes. He sees a person being attacked by a monster. Achmed shoots an arrow into the monster’s back, which kills it. Achmed checks on the man, who was attacked by the monster. The man says that he is Aladdin. Getting right to business, Achmed asks where the magic lamp is. Achmed asks if he does not have the lamp. Aladdin does not have the lamp. However, he says that he will explain what happened.

Aladdin explains that he was a poor tailor in the city of the Great Caliph. One day, a stranger came to visit him. The stranger, who is the Sorcerer, tells Aladdin to follow him and he does. They go until they see Princess Dinarsade, who is playing chess. The Sorcerer says that Aladdin can have her if he does something for him.

Aladdin and the Sorcerer go to a high mountain. They stop at a well. It is covered with vines and has a lid. The Sorcerer moves the vines and opens the lid. The sorcerer opens a scroll, which shows the magic lamp. The Sorcerer tells Aladdin to fetch the lamp. Aladdin takes a rope ladder down to the bottom of the well. He sees that he can go down further and does so. He gets to the bottom and sees the lamp. He carefully grabs the lamp, blows on it, and starts to climb back up. He then climbs up the ladder, where the Sorcerer tells Aladdin to give him the lamp. Aladdin says, “First, let me out!” in the captions and narrator version, but says, “Let me go first!” in the translation version. They struggle for a bit and Aladdin ends up falling. The sorcerer says that Aladdin will die and that he will obtain the lamp on his own.

Aladdin explains that he was in the cave for a long time until he lit the lamp. The spirit, or genie as it is in the captions, appears. He asks what Aladdin’s command is. The spirit/genie says that he and the other spirits/genies of the lamp are here to serve him. Aladdin asks to be home. The spirit/genie sends him back to Aladdin’s tailoring tent.

Aladdin explains that now that he the lamp, he could win over Princess Dinarsade. That night, Aladdin uses the lamp to make a palace. The next morning, the Caliph and Dinarsade come to the magic palace, which has servants. Aladdin, who now has fancy clothes, greets the Caliph and Dinarsade. Surprisingly quickly, Dinarsade became Aladdin’s wife. They really skip ahead. One moment, it is him kissing her hand and then BAM! Married! I guess, they didn’t have the time to develop that. I mean, that makes Disney relationships look long.

Anyway, Achmed explains that the Caliph is his father and that Dinarsade is his sister. Achmed demands that Aladdin tell him what happened next.

Aladdin explains that one day, the palace, princess, and lamp were all gone. The Caliph’s guards take him to be executed, but before he can be, he escapes. In his escape, his fancy clothes are thrown off him. Aladdin explains that he escaped because the Caliph was mad at him. Aladdin runs to a dock. Here, he takes a boat and sails away. Eventually, a storm happened, which breaks the boat. Aladdin is swept by the waves, which land on a rock. He gets up and find what looks like a tree. He finds a bunch of bananas and takes them. Before he can eat any, the tree is revealed to be the monster that Achmed fought earlier. Aladdin explains that is when Achmed showed up.

Achmed asks who did this and Aladdin explains that it was the Sorcerer. Achmed explains that he loved Dinarsade. The Witch appears. She tells Achmed to hurry in his saving of Peri Banu. The Witch explains that the spirits/demons want to kill her because she followed her. Yes, that doesn’t make sense. Why even capture her if you were just going to kill her? So, stupid. Anyway, Achmed is sad and the Witch wants to comfort him, but Aladdin stops her. He explains that the Sorcerer has the magic lamp and that only the lamp can open the gates of Wak-Wak. Aladdin says that if she kills the Sorcerer, she can have the lamp. Achmed gets up and demands that she kills him. The Witch says that she will try to kill him.

The Witch summons the Sorcerer. He transforms into a lion. She transforms into a snake. They growl and hiss, respectively, at each other. He transforms into a scorpion. He uses his pincers to cut her, but she is too quick. She bites down on his tail. He manages to get him off and she transforms into a chicken. He transforms into a vulture. They then fight for a while, until he transforms into a small dragon and she transforms into a large fish. They fight again until they both transform back into their normal appearances. She throws a fire ball at him, but he ducks and it misses. He throws a fire ball at her and she steps out of the way, so that it misses her. They continue to throw fire balls at each other, every time missing, until one finally hits the Sorcerer, killing him. The Witch gives Aladdin the lamp. She confirms that the Sorcerer is dead. Per the agreement, Aladdin gives the Witch the lamp.

Act 5 begins with Peri Banu about to be killed by the spirits/demons. They take her to a cliff and wait for her to jump. She hesitates because, you know, she doesn’t want to die. Before she can do it, a spirit/demon comes and says that Achmed is at the gates. It then cuts to Achmed, Aladdin, who is holding the lamp, and the Witch outside the mountain. Achmed demands that they release Peri Banu. One of the spirits/demons holds her up, Achmed shoots an arrow, it hits the spirit/demon, and the spirit/demon plummets off the cliff, releasing Peri Banu before doing so. Achmed commands Aladdin to summon the spirits/genies of the lamp. Somehow, instead black demons/dark spirits appear. Achmed fights to get to Peri Banu, but leaves Aladdin unprotected. One of the black demons/dark spirits takes the lamp. Achmed manages to save Aladdin. Aladdin and Achmed start throwing boulders at the black demons/dark spirits. Finally choosing to do something, the Witch kills the black demon/dark spirit that had the lamp and gets the lamp. For some reason, the spirits/genies start coming out of the lamp. The spirits/genies start to destroy the black demons/dark spirits. However, a black demon/dark spirit grabs Peri Banu and Aladdin and Achmed throw boulders at it. They then run after the creature. Achmed and the Witch kill the beast, freeing Peri Banu.

After the spirits/genies finish destroying the black demons/dark spirits, Achmed kisses Peri Banu. The Witch interrupts to point out Aladdin’s palace, which is returning. It flies into the seen and lands. The Witch says goodbye to Achmed, Peri Banu, and Aladdin. The three then enter the palace. The spirits/genies enter the lamp. The palace flies away. Aladdin assumes that his wife is just in palace. He eventually finds her. The two kiss. Achmed and Peri Banu arrive and Dinarsade hugs her brother. The palace eventually lands where it was originally made. In his palace, the Caliph is sitting. A servant arrives and says that Aladdin’s palace is back. The Caliph greets his family. Achmed introduces his dad to Peri Banu. The Caliph hugs her. The Caliph forgives Aladdin. The end!

When I started writing this, I thought it was an okay movie, now I know, it really is not that good, story-wise.

Now, let’s talk about the characters.

First, Prince Achmed. This spoiled, arrogant prince becomes a true hero in the end learning the power of… I’m just kidding. This brat basically learned that women are not an object and then saved a seemingly powerless woman. This is definitely an example of the primitive “damsel in distress” story.

Second, Dinarsade and the Caliph. They didn’t do much besides move the story along.

Third, the Sorcerer. He was definitely a good villain. His motives were not clear at the beginning, but slowly become clear when he objectifies the Princess, which is what Prince Achmed did with Peri Banu. He’s supposed to be the hero, right? Anyway, I thought that the fight scene between him and the witch was a good scene. It was nice to know that even one of the oldest animated movies was not afraid to show death.

Fourth, the Witch. Throughout, she is an Anti-Hero, really only choosing to be good to help herself in the end. However, in the first part of her time, she acted like a sidekick, but quickly became an “ex Machina”.

Fifth, Aladdin. I quite enjoyed Aladdin and he seemed to be a good character throughout. While he was somewhat selfish, he did not seem too selfish.

Sixth, the Main Genie/Spirit. The Main Genie/Spirit was an interesting character and while he only appeared briefly for exposition, he did a good job doing so.

Seventh, the Emperor of China. He was a secondary antagonist, but I did kind of feel bad for him because all he really wanted was love.

Eighth, the Emperor’s Jester/Favorite. I feel bad for how he was treated by the Witch, since he really didn’t deserve it. Much like the Emperor, he just wanted love and he did spare Peri Banu’s life, so that’s a plus.

Finally, the Magic Horse. I don’t know if anyone noticed, but the Magic Horse is just gone like halfway through the movie, starting in like Act 3, they rarely show it and it never appears in Act 4 or 5. The horse was really just a way to move the story along.

Next is the animation. The animation is amazing for what it is. The effects all around were good. I think my favorite effects were when magic was being used. You definitely feel like they are using magic. I think the cleverest effect is the wave effect. When Aladdin was brought to the rock by the wave after the storm broke his ship, as Aladdin was getting up, the wave would appear as it would, but to me, I think that was a way for them to move the character without showing movement.

Finally, I want to talk about similarities to other media. For this, it will be things that came after it purely because I have not seen a lot of things from the first half of the 20^th century and there is not a lot to compare this too. It is important to note these are not necessarily references or the media I am comparing it to is not necessarily referencing this, but it is just things that I think are similar.

The obvious one is Disney’s Aladdin. There are definitely a lot of similarities to that film. 1. The Caliph plays a similar role as the Sultan. 2. Princess Dinarsade plays a similar role as Princess Jasmine. 3. For Aladdin’s story, the Sorcerer plays a similar role as Jafar. 4. How Aladdin finds the lamp is similar. 5. Aladdin’s palace is a lot like the Sultan’s palace. 6. The fancy outfit that Aladdin wears is similar to the one that Prince Ali wears. 7. The Main Genie/Spirit is a lot like the Genie, except not as helpful and does not follow the three wishes rule, which is standard for genies is modern fantasy. 8. When Aladdin escapes being executed, it reminded me of the “One Jump Ahead” scene.

The next one that is fairly obvious is the Witch vs. Sorcerer scene is similar to the Merlin vs. Mim scene and their relationship in general, although for the story their roles are reversed, from Disney’s The Sword in the Stone. The Witch and Sorcerer were just about as random as Merlin and Mim in the selection, even ending with the Sorcerer being a dragon like Mim was.

Another similarity involving the Witch vs. Sorcerer scene is fireballs. While this is a staple of the Super Mario series, it reminds me more of Once Upon a Time, mostly the Evil Queen.

A more obscure similarity involves the Sorcerer’s appearance. He looks a lot like Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb, mostly in the wide shots. It is mostly his triangular head and long pointy nose that makes him look similar. He actually looks quite a bit like Doofus Khan from the Phineas and Ferb episode, “Doof Dynasty”.

If you want to watch the movie for either good effects or historical value, I recommend this film, but you if want a good story with a good protagonist, stay far away from this movie as possible.