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==Release and reception== ==Release and reception==
''El Apóstol'' was released on November 9, 1917, at the Cine Select-Suipacha.{{sfn|Bendazzi|1995|p=48}}{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|p=33}}{{sfn|Beckerman|p=25}} The film was successful in Buenos Aires,<ref name="nyfa">{{cite web | url = https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/quick-history-animation/ | author = Zeke | title = A Quick History of Animation | website = New York Film Academy | date = February 26, 2015 | accessdate = November 5, 2020}}</ref> with a lot of the newspapers publishing openly favorable reviews of the film.{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|pp=35-36}} The destruction of Buenos Aires near the end of the film was considered the most impressive scene in the film.{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|p=34}} The success of the film was so big that it started to be shown several times a day for six months{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|p=36}} before being banned by the Buenos Aires town hall for being a caricature of a current political situation.{{sfn|Finkleman|2004|p=20}} Because it appealed strictly to people in Buenos Aires, it was never distributed outside of Buenos Aires nor was it possible to distribute to other countries at the time. As a result, it was never widely famous at the time, even in Argentina.{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|pp=36-37}} ''El Apóstol'' was released on November 9, 1917, at the Cine Select-Suipacha.{{sfn|Bendazzi|1995|p=48}}{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|p=33}}{{sfn|Beckerman|p=25}} The film was successful in Buenos Aires,<ref name="nyfa">{{cite web | url = https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/quick-history-animation/ | author = Zeke | title = A Quick History of Animation | website = New York Film Academy | date = February 26, 2015 | accessdate = November 5, 2020}}</ref> with many newspapers favorably reviewing the film.{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|pp=35-36}} The destruction of Buenos Aires near the end of the film was considered its most impressive scene.{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|p=34}} It was so successful that it was shown several times daily for six months{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|p=36}} before it was banned by the Buenos Aires town council as a caricature of the current political situation.{{sfn|Finkleman|2004|p=20}} Because it appealed primarily to Buenos Aires residents, it was not distributed elsewhere in Argentina or abroad. As a result, it was not well-known at the time.{{sfn|Bendazzi|2017|pp=36-37}}


==Legacy== ==Legacy==

Revision as of 01:20, 30 January 2021

1917 film
El Apóstol
Cut, articulated figure of El Peludo (President Yrigoyen) used in Peludópolis, a later animated film about the Argentine president
Directed byQuirino Cristiani
Written byAlfonso de Laferrére
Produced byFederico Valle
Animation byQuirino Cristiani
Backgrounds byAndrés Ducaus
Release date
  • November 9, 1917 (1917-11-09)
Running time70 minutes
CountryArgentina
LanguageSilent film

El Apóstol (English: The Apostle) is a 1917 lost Argentine animated film using cutout animation. Many historians consider it the world's first animated feature film. It was directed and produced by Italian-Argentine immigrants Quirino Cristiani and Federico Valle, respectively. The film began production after the success of Cristiani and Valle's short film, La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires, and was produced in less than ten months or in twelve months; accounts differ. Its script was written by Alfonso de Laferrére, the background models of Buenos Aires were created by Andrés Ducaus, and the initial character designs were drawn by Diógenes Taborda.

El Apóstol is a satire based on Argentina's president at the time, Hipólito Yrigoyen. In the film, Yrigoyen dreams about going to Mount Olympus and discussing politics with the gods before using one of Zeus's lightning bolts to cleanse Buenos Aires of corruption. Well-received at the time in Buenos Aires, it was not distributed in other Argentine provinces or other countries. The film was destroyed in a 1928 fire in Valle's studio.

Plot

Argentine president Hipólito Yrigoyen dreams about ascending to Olympus dressed as an apostle. He speaks with the gods about the deeds and misdeeds of the porteños, and how they laugh at him and every political program he sets up. A few congressmen appear, and express their positions. Yrigoyen discusses the level of chaos in the capital administration with the gods, and the government's financial situation. After the discussion, Yrigoyen asks Zeus for lightning bolts to cleanse Buenos Aires of immorality and corruption. Zeus grants his request; lightning bolts consume the city's main buildings, and Yrigoyen awakens.

Background

Valle was an industrial-film producer who produced a newsreel, Acutalidades Valle. He hired Quirino Cristiani, known at the time for caricatures in daily newspapers, to help animate an experimental political vignette for Valle's newsreel. They made La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires (English: Intervention in the Province of Bueno Aires), a one-minute sketch ridiculing governor Marcelino Ugarte. The film used paper-cut animation which Cristiani learned from a film by Émile Cohl. Although many Argentine sources identify the release of La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires as 1916, its actual release date is unknown. The film was a success.

Production

Caricature of a seated Hipólito Yrigoyen in uniform
Early sketch of Yrigoyen, drawn by Taborda for the film

After the success of La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires in 1916, Valle began working on a full-length political satire film which became El Apóstol. El Apóstol was a satire based on President Yrigoyen. Valle hired Alfonso de Laferrére to write the script, and Andrés Ducaus to build 3D models of buildings in Buenos Aires. Laferrere asked Cristiani if he would be interested in being the principal animator (equivalent to directing); Cristiani said yes, but he would need help due to the amount of work required. The animation method would be identical to that of La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires.

To attract publicity, Valle hired the popular cartoonist Diógenes "El Mono" Taborda. Taborda liked the idea of bringing his caricatures to life, and gave Cristiani sketches of the characters. Cristiani was dismayed, however; although he thought they were good, they were too rigid and detailed for him to animate. Toborda left the production, daunted by the amount of work needed to complete the film, but allowed Cristiani to make his drawings simpler and easier to animate. It is unknown how long El Apóstol took to produce, but it was quick for an animated film; production was estimated at less than ten months, or twelve months. A total of 58,000 frames were filmed, which clocked in at one hour and ten minutes.

Release and reception

El Apóstol was released on November 9, 1917, at the Cine Select-Suipacha. The film was successful in Buenos Aires, with many newspapers favorably reviewing the film. The destruction of Buenos Aires near the end of the film was considered its most impressive scene. It was so successful that it was shown several times daily for six months before it was banned by the Buenos Aires town council as a caricature of the current political situation. Because it appealed primarily to Buenos Aires residents, it was not distributed elsewhere in Argentina or abroad. As a result, it was not well-known at the time.

Legacy

El Apóstol became known as the first animated feature film ever made, with a running time of an hour and ten minutes. Quirino Cristiani reportedly received little credit for the El Apóstol, being paid only 1000 pesos and a small credit in the opening credits. Cristiani left Ferdrico Valle due to him interfering with Crisiani's work. Valle did not make another animated feature film since then. Cristiani worked on many animated short films throughout his career and at least two other animated feature films, Sin dejar rastros (English: With out leaving a trace) and Peludópolis.

Sin dejar rastros was a film based on the event, where a German submarine took down an Argentine merchant ship and pinned it on the allies in an attempt to get Argentina to join World War I, but President Yrigoyen forced Argentina to stay neutral. The film was shown for only one day on May 17, 1918 before it was confiscated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to avoid stirring up public opinion and causing further problems between the two governments. The film was never seen again. Peludópolis was the world's first animated feature film with synchronized sound. Peludópolis was a satire based on the greed of Yrigoyen and his ministers, and was produced from 1928-1931. It was going to be about a group of pirates lead by El Peludo hijacking a ship lead by El Pelado and steering the ship to Republica Quesolandia (English:the Republic of Cheeseland). The film has troubled production due to political events, with even a new ending being created. The film was released on September 16 (or 18), 1931 and was not well-received, and with the Great Depression starting to hit Argentina, the film was not a success, Cristiani withdrew Peludópolis from circulation in 1933 after Yriyogen's death and retired from the animation industry in 1941.

In 1926, a fire destroyed Valle's film studio, incinerating Valle's equipment along with the only known copy of El Apóstol. It is now considered a lost film. On top of that, Cristiani's studio burned down twice, in 1958 and in 1961. As a result, most of Cristiani's works are currently lost. The only animated film Cristiani worked on that survived was a cell-based animation named El Mono relojero, which wasn't reflective of most of Cristiani's work. A lot of the information available comes from records of the film from Argentina, archives from Cristiani's family, and Cristiani's memory recorded by Giannalberto Bendazzi.

See also

References

  1. ^ Bendazzi 1995, p. 49.
  2. Bendazzi 2017, pp. 33–34.
  3. ^ Bendazzi 1995, p. 48.
  4. Barnard 2013, p. 131.
  5. ^ Rist 2014, p. 193.
  6. Bendazzi 2017, pp. 21–22.
  7. Bendazzi 2017, p. 22.
  8. ^ Beckerman, p. 25. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBeckerman (help)
  9. ^ Finkleman 2004, p. 20. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFinkleman2004 (help)
  10. ^ Bendazzi 2017, p. 23.
  11. Barnard 2013, p. 133.
  12. Barnard 2013, p. 132.
  13. ^ Bendazzi 2017, p. 26.
  14. Bendazzi 2017, pp. 26–27.
  15. ^ Bendazzi 2017, p. 29.
  16. ^ "First full-length cartoon". Guinness World Records. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  17. ^ Bendazzi, Giannalberto (December 1984). "Quirino Cristiani, The Untold Story of Argentina's Pioneer Animator". Graffiti. Translated by Solomon, Charles. ASIFA-Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2019 – via Animation World Network.
  18. Bendazzi 2017, p. 33.
  19. ^ Zeke (February 26, 2015). "A Quick History of Animation". New York Film Academy. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  20. Bendazzi 2017, pp. 35–36.
  21. Bendazzi 2017, p. 34.
  22. Bendazzi 2017, p. 36.
  23. Bendazzi 2017, pp. 36–37.
  24. ^ Maher, John (October 8, 2020). "10 Tragically, Irretrievably Lost Pieces of Animation History". The Vulture. New York. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  25. Bendazzi 2017, p. 40.
  26. ^ Bendazzi 2017, p. 44.
  27. Barnard 2004, p. 193. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBarnard2004 (help)
  28. ^ Bendazzi 2017, p. 76.
  29. Bendazzi 2017, pp. 44–45.
  30. ^ Bendazzi 2017, p. 46.
  31. ^ Sisterton, Dennis (March 28, 2017). "Magic Wilderness: El Apóstol & Peludópolis". Skwigly. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  32. ^ Bendazzi 2017, p. 75.
  33. ^ Bendazzi 1995, p. 50.
  34. ^ Rist 2014, p. 194.
  35. Bendazzi 2017, p. 80.
  36. Bendazzi 2017, p. 54.

Sources

External links

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