A musical Grasshopper continues to play his violin while the Ant works hard to prepare for the winter. Later as winter arrives Grasshopper realizes he is not ready for winter and falls ill.
Direction
Lotte Reiniger's intricate scissor-cut silhouette technique.
Production
Hand-crafted frame-by-frame shadow puppet animation.
Director
Lotte Reiniger
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Reiniger was the first woman to direct a feature-length animated film (The Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926), making this late-career short a masterclass from a pioneer the industry largely forgot.
The original Aesop fable ends with the Ant refusing help; Reiniger's version softens this slightly, suggesting even 1950s audiences found pure Social Darwinism a bit much.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
GB
