Fantasmagorie (1908)

Fantasmagorie (A Fantasy in English) is the first fully animated film in history, made on modern picture film projector by Émile Cohl (Emile Eugene Jean Louis Courtet, 1857-1938), a French caricaturist of the largely-forgotten Incoherent Movement, cartoonist and animator. He is called ‘The Father of the Animated Cartoon’ and ‘The Oldest Parisian’.

This silent animation is not a narrative but a collage of some actions performed by the main character. But the way one action leads to the other, the speedy merging of different scenes glues the eyes to the screen.

Cohl made it from February to May or June 1908. He placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing with variations on top of it until he had some 700 drawings to make this film. This created a consistent movement and continuity between the drawings. The characters look like chalkboard caricatures which was popular in those days. But Cohl filmed black lines on paper and then printing in negative, making his animations appear like chalk drawings.

More info on Fantasmagorie and Émile Cohl:

• Reviews and ratings of Fantasmagorie – IMDb
• Article on the first fully animated movie – 1908: Finally Fully Animated
• Biography of Émile Cohl – Wikipedia
• Director reviewed by Paghat the Ratgirl – Director: Emile Cohl

Animation Movies by Émile Cohl