This journal article deals mainly with the series of films entitled Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, and aims to address the cliche that when portions of the plays are removed in order to make the films, the works are simplified or "dumbed down" to the point where the quality is almost completely sacrificed. It suggests that a better way to analyze the films is to examine them as films, and not as literature, and therefore acknowledge the omissions but still treat the work as a whole. In addition, this reading sees these cuts as necessary to enhance the cinematographic needs of the medium, and the choice of animation brings these valuable and culturally significant stories to a new generation.

The article goes on to cite Walter Benjamin and Sergei Eisenstein's early writings that see animation as significant and important, and claim that it serves as the experimentation necessary for the progress of cinema as a whole. A primary example of Disney's experimentation with anti-realism, according to the article, is the "Silly Symphonies" series of short animated films. The author sees experimentation in various aspects of the film, including "self-reflexivity, technical innovativeness, violation of natural spatial-temporal rules, and violence," and cites other writings which claim that part of the influence of the films lay in their ambiguous target audiences. The films were "not just children's stuff, and certainly not sugar-sweet. Whether they were for adults or children was indeterminate." It was the animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that ended this era of experimentation for Disney, and proved that cartoons could be respectable, even "antiseptic." While Warner Brothers continued to be edgy, Disney was now mainstream and accepted by the Production Code.

This article helps me prove the foundation of my thesis, that the Silly Symphonies began as experimental works that allowed Disney and its animators to try new technologies and new forms. It also helps me show that this experimentation led directly to the development of elements, like narrative, character differentiation, and others, whose perfection made the production of an animated feature-length film possible.

The first chapter of this book, written by Jack Zipes, discusses Disney's role in animating fairy tales and essentially making an industry out of it. Disney drew much of his inspiration for his films from various fairy tales, and in some cases as the book asserts, imposed new meaning to these tales. The chapter explores the history of fairy tales as means of passing morals, essentially having an indoctrination function. Literacy changed the audience and served a class-separation role, among other roles, all the way through the late nineteenth century. Zipes suggests Disney continued the tradition of putting fairy tales into "book" form through its animation department. Given his early success and the development of the animated film industry, Disney was able to implement and perfect other forms of technology to become a leader in animation.

While little credit is attached to where Disney got his inspiration from, the chapter is relevant to the thesis. It outlines some of the similarities, potentially directly drawn from German Expressionism in Disney's work. It was the revolutionary technology that put Disney's work above the rest. A couple of these techniques, which may have been borrowed from European animators on one of Disney's many trips, were experimented on by Reiniger, one being the multiplane camera. The use of this camera to create depth out of two-dimensional images is noted in several of Disney's early works. Reiniger used an early form of the camera to create an illusion of depth in her silhouette images, too. Furthermore, Reiniger's inspiration for using the Arabian Nights' tale was derived from the familiarity the audience would have with these tales and the artistic match between the Expressionist film and the fantastic tale.

Bell, Elizabeth. "From Mouse to Mermaid." Indiana University Press, 1995. (Chapter 1 by Jack Zipes).

The article exclusively discusses the technological aspects of animation, particularly in Disney. Chadwell argues that technology drives illusion, which is the "foundation of animation." Disney was interested in the technological aspects of animation; the entire team that worked on a film was essentially an assembly line, with each member contributing their little part to the whole. In the end it is the complete product that viewers are interested in; therefore, the credit too went to the company or a major figurehead rather than the individual animators. Furthermore, he points out that the multiplane camera's primary role was to create the illusion of depth to make the film more realistic. Essentially, Disney's investment in Snow White was predicated on the use of new technology, which eventually led to the success of this film and future ones, as well.

The article is relevant to the thesis, albeit in a limited fashion, because it deals with Disney's use of the multiplane camera in the making of his first feature film. Reiniger established a similar technique a decade earlier. By lighting a background image less, the main action and characters are brought to the forefront while detail of the backdrop still remains, thus creating an illusion of depth. Obviously Snow White was a technologically superior film given the decade to perfect this piece of technology, yet Reiniger's influence on Disney is once again apparent. The misshapen evil characters of many Disney films are also influenced by Reiniger's jagged, stylized demons and sorcerers. All together, Reiniger's influence was derived not only from her work on Prince Achmed, but the experimental nature and abundance of her work.

Chadwell, Sean. "Technological Determinism and the Poisoned Apple: The Case of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Reconstruction 8.2, 2008.

Thesis: While Disney films are animated to be effectively realistic and in three dimensions, the silhouette film is two-dimensional, stylized, and mutable; this enhances the film's Expressionist nature. Furthermore, Reiniger's film experiments with techniques that would later be refined and used by Disney and other animators and filmmakers. Therefore, Lotte Reiniger's Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) influenced Hollywood, specifically the genre of animation and the Disney company, through its Expressionist style and its technological advances.

This article specifically delves into German influence on Disney. The article points out how Expressionism was a reaction to realism in film and often depicted science-fiction, dystopian or otherwise fantastic settings. Expressionism also relied on stylized sets and character expressions to convey the overwhelming mood. Reiniger's film is no different, though the detailed expressions she creates with cardboard cut outs is beyond impressive. The article gives more examples of Disney films with Expressionist influence.

Although slightly redundant with the material in Allan's book, this article is relevant to the thesis in a similar fashion as that book. Reiniger began work on the film in 1923, during the heart of Expressionism in Germany. She studied and worked with Max Reinhardt, among others, who influenced her style and the style of Hollywood after their escape from Nazi Germany. The Adventures of Prince Achmed was highly stylized to emphasize the setting in a fantastic world. Although they are essentially shadows, the characters gesture in expressive manners. Incredible detail is in each shot as the silhouettes move across the constant background. The Expressionist techniques highlight the exoticism portrayed in the film.

Penny Starfield, "Film and Art : On the German Expressionist and the Disney Exhibitions" Transatlantica, 2006:2, Jan 23, 2007.

Allan, Robin. Walt Disney and Europe: European Influences on the Animated Feature Films of Walt Disney. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 1999. (Chapter 2)

Robin Allan's book discusses European influences on Disney animated feature films. In particular it discusses the role German Expressionism played in Disney films of the 30s and 40s. The book details how Disney's frequent trips to Europe, and the immigration of Europeans, particularly Germans during the rise of the Nazis, specifically influenced the style of Disney films. Later in the book he discusses Expressionism in Fantasia at length, but the European influence on Disney is apparent in this chapter.

This book is relevant to my thesis because Lotte Reiniger's films exhibited many Expressionist features. The Adventures of Prince Achmed was highly stylized to emphasize the setting in a fantastic world, as can be seen by the Nosferatu-like hands. As with many of the early films, the plots were derived from stories people would have known; in this case, Reiniger's tale is from 1001 Arabian Nights. Also, Expressionist techniques could highlight the exoticism portrayed in the film. Reiniger's use of cardboard cut outs with multiplane cameras also was borrowed by Disney for his later features. The effect of Reiniger's silhouette stop motion animation was to create shadows and various degrees of lighting, both of which were common effects of the German Expressionist movement.