Fantasmagorie Review

Fantasmagorie is a 1908 animated short film directed by Emile Cohl. It’s considered by many to be the first ever animated film.

And that isn’t exactly true as ‘Humorous Phases of Funny Faces‘ came out two years before this one. I’d say I prefer this cartoon though because it’s more interesting overall. This is still the type of movie that has no plot really and is just the director’s excuse to show off the animation skills. It’s rather abstract in style and it lacks any characterization or meaning.

But technically speaking, it’s a marvel for its time, especially given the fact that it is abstract and that is more difficult to animate, but this animation is so good nonetheless. The stick man, the clown and the gentleman have limitations in their designs obviously, but the movements are particularly polished for its time and the abstract sequences steal the show. I also liked the film’s score and the ending is quite good.

Fantasmagorie is plotless and with no characterization, but it’s an interesting experiment that paid off as it features groundbreaking animation and movements.