Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger (2 June 1899 – 19 June 1981) was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation, anticipating Walt Disney by over ten years. Reiniger made over 40 films over her career, all using her invention. Her most well known films are The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) and The Magic Flute, featuring music by Mozart.

Biography

Early life

Lotte Reiniger was born in Berlin-Charlottenburg on 2 June 1899. As a child, she was fascinated with the Chinese art of silhouette puppetry, even building her own puppet theatre, so that she could put on shows for her family and friends.

As a teenager, Reiniger fell in love with cinema, first with the films of Georges Méliès for their special effects, then the films of the actor and director Paul Wegener, known today for The Golem (1920). In 1915, she attended a lecture by Wegener that focused on the fantastic possibilities of animation.

Reiniger eventually convinced her parents to allow her to enroll in the acting group that Wegener belonged to, the Theatre of Max Reinhardt. She started making silhouette portraits of the various actors around her, and soon she was making elaborate title cards for Wegener's films, many of which featured her silhouettes.