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Sponsored Silhouettes: Lotte Reiniger’s ‘Useful’ Films in Britain

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Animation and Advertising

Part of the book series: Palgrave Animation ((PAANI))

Abstract

This chapter reconsiders the sponsored silhouette films of Lotte Reiniger, produced in the late 1930s when the animator left Berlin for London—an under-researched period in her biography and filmography. Drawing on archival research and new methods from the emerging field of ‘useful’ cinema, this study investigates the production and reception contexts of two titles commissioned by the GPO Film Unit. Challenging the gendered bias in recent accounts of these silhouette advertising films—often overlooked or devalued for their employment of the decorative—this chapter will explore the ways in which Reiniger’s animations were targeted at specific audiences. By locating Reiniger’s GPO animations within a broader literary tradition, curious connections emerge between her ‘useful’ filmmaking and the didactic function of traditional fairy tales.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Tashi Petter

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  1. Tashi Petter
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Correspondence to Tashi Petter .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Film Studies, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Malcolm Cook

  2. Film Studies, Seattle University, Seattle, WA, USA

    Kirsten Moana Thompson

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Petter, T. (2019). Sponsored Silhouettes: Lotte Reiniger’s ‘Useful’ Films in Britain. In: Cook, M., Thompson, K. (eds) Animation and Advertising. Palgrave Animation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27939-4_3

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