The Clown and His Donkey

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The Clown and His Donkey is an 1910 animated short film featuring silhouette animation. It was written, directed, and produced by the British animator Charles Armstrong.[1] It was his third known silhouette animated film, following The Sporting Mice(1909) and Votes for Women: A Caricature (1909). The Clown and His Donkey is Armstrong's only surviving film, though he continued directing animated films until 1915.[1] All of Armstrong's animated films were distributed by the Charles Urban Trading Company.[1]

Plot[edit]

The film consists of seven scenes, separated by black segments of various lengths. The film depicts a clown and his donkey performing circus tricks, juggling, and playing practical jokes. A circus monkey assists the clown in some scenes. The clown gestures to the audience, asking for its complicity.[1]

Production[edit]

The film's silhouettes are white. They are depicted in profile, and contrasted with the film's black background.[1]

In the film, Armstrong animated shadow puppets frame-by-frame. He was pioneering silhouette animation techniques which would later be perfected by Lotte Reiniger.[2]

Charles Armstrong produced his animated films at the Cumberland Works in Kew.[3] The film's depiction of circus acts reflected the status of animation itself in its era. Animation was seen as a novelty and as a form of marginal entertainment.[3]

Armstrong's animated films tended to combine "impossible" scenarios with political satire, reflecting the British political issues of his era. The Clown and His Donkey may be making a "playful social point", but its primary purpose was to demonstrate Armstrong's "technical acumen".[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Bendazzi (2017), p. 52
  2. ^ Stewart, (2021), p. 16
  3. ^ a b c Zipes, Greenhill, Magnus-Johnston, (2016), p. 51

External References[edit]

  • Bendazzi, Giannalberto (2017), "The Individualists", Animation: A World History: Volume I: Foundations, Routledge, ISBN 978-1138035317
  • Stewart, Jez, "Signing in and signing up", The Story of British Animation, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 978-1911239659
  • Zipes, Jack; Greenhill, Pauline; Magnus-Johnston, Kendra, eds. (2016), "1899-1935: Even An Englishman Must Move With The Times", Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415709309

External links[edit]

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