I really do not necessarily think there’s much in the way of sexism in the failure to recognize the works of Lotte Reiniger. I honestly believe that it’s a lot more to do with Americans’ obsession with their own works and apparent unawareness that people in other countries do things. And, of course, Walt Disney’s intensive personal showmanship enters into it, too. It’s also a bit strange to some people to think of a feature-length animated movie before there was sound in movies, I think. Our connection between cartoons and sound is pretty well hardwired, given how well the two big American animation studios of the twentieth century integrated the two.

But Lotte Reiniger’s first animation was in 1918, making wooden rats for Paul Wegener’s Der Rattenfänger von Hameln. The next year, she was animating her own shorts. She was at the Institute for Cultural Research, where she met her husband and creative partner, Carl Koch. For several years, she did shorts and special effects. Then, in 1923, she was asked to do a feature film. No one had ever done such a thing, and she was uncertain she could. Animation was supposed to be funny, right? Could you really be entertaining for that long?

As anyone who has seen The Adventures of Prince Achmed can tell you, you can. It’s an extraordinary film. She invented the first multiplane camera to create it—another innovation generally attributed to Disney, of course. It is by no means a realistic film in style, another reason people were hesitant to distribute it. The time for its expressionistic style was passing. On the other hand, it was apparently quite a success.

You don’t hear her name come up much, certainly not alongside Disney as it deserves. But I will say that I’ve never heard her name come up alongside Leni Riefenstahl, either. I suppose that’s because Reiniger was not exactly a prolific filmmaker for the Nazis. She made a few shorts while under Nazi control, but from what I can tell, they weren’t really celebratory beyond the requirements of the regime. I suppose you could make an allegory about the Golden Goose, and it’s possible that the short she made was—I haven’t seen it—but it’s also practically the only thing she did under the Nazi leadership, and she didn’t exactly do a short called “Nazi Supermen Take Over the World.”

I think these days, when we’re becoming more aware of World Cinema and all that, that we might take a little time to look at some of the pioneers who had the “misfortune” of just not being American. As I said, I really don’t think it’s to do with sexism, necessarily, though I suppose Hedy Lamar might have a few things to say there. (You know, while using WiFi.) It’s nationalism, which is arguably not better. Just, you know, go watch more of her work, including The Adventures of Prince Achmed, which is well worth it.

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