The next film up is 1935's The New Gulliver from Russia, and directed by Aleksandr Ptushko. This film was a communist retelling of Gulliver's Travels. This means that the story was changed heavily to promote communist views. Many Russian films from this time period (Both Animated and Live action) were made to well promote communist Russia, or put down capitalist countries. Lenin, himself stated that cinema was their (The Communist Party) greatest tool, and Russian filmmakers took this to heart. It is argued whether this film or Tale of The Fox was the first stop motion animated feature. Tale of the Fox was completed first, but this film was realeased first. This film is very impressive visually, and a great historical watch for people interested in animation and/or world history. However the story is much less impressive and comes off as simply there for propaganda reasons. So if you want to be visually amazed or have a fascinating piece of history this is well worth a watch, however if you want a good, entertaining story, you should watch another Gulliver adaption or read the book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGhXeMNWEO4
1936 should have the year for the very first Italian feature length animated film. This film would have been The Adventures of Pinocchio. However this film was never released and was probably never completed. What was made of the film has been lost. This film, or what was made of it was directed by Raoul Verdini, and Umberto Spano. This would have also been the first film adaption of Collodi's famous book.
Tale of the Fox is one of my all time favorite movies, and remains one of the greatest animated works of art to this day. This film was the first animated feature from France, and not only the first stop motion animated feature film completed but also the first to contain no live action. It is directed by the great animation pioneer Ladislas Starevich, and his wife, Irene Starevich. Starevich was one of the people (Along with Winsor McCay) heavily responsible, in my mind, for turning animation from a novelty into great art. Unfortunately this was his only foray into animated features (He had directed a live action feature called "The Night Before Christmas" in 1912). However what an amazing film this is. It features a brilliantly written script based off the folk character Reynard the Fox. Released the same year (1937) as Snow White, this was heavily different from the type of animated feature Disney would pioneer. It was a very immoral tale that followed the antagonist, and treated his character with more respect than the other characters. While he is not a admirable character by any means, he is quite likable when compared to the corrupt, and hypocritical political system he is fighting. We root for him because he knows who he is and it doesn't bother him. This is also some of the best looking stop motion animation ever made, even today. The characters are real and completely readable though how the look alone. Overall this film is a brilliant work of art that still today remains just as smart, subversive, entertaining, and impressive as it must have been back in 1937.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsdTCsfnxc
The next film is one that still survives, yet I have not been able to been able to find. Also from 1937 this film is "The Seven Ravens", from Germany. It was directed by the brother team of Ferdinand Dahl, and Hermann Diehl, and based off the Brothers Grimm tale of the same name. This was released on December 2, 1937, the same month as Snow White, therefore it barely made it on this list.
-Michael J. Ruhland
