Animated Economic Miracle
West German Animated Films of the 1950s

Animated film in early West Germany was slow to develop its own characteristics in the face of the superiority of American producers, especially as many designers had already been active in National Socialist production, resulting in aesthetic continuities. While most of the creative energy flowed into advertising and commissioned films, the attempt to make a feature-length animated film failed due to conceptual and financial problems. Despite this difficult starting position, animated films were made in West Germany that are worth rediscovering simply because of their immense wealth of ideas and forms. Curated by Jeanpaul Goergen, this retrospective of West German animated film from the 1950s brings together advanced artistic works, information and children's films as well as animated films advertising products in the land of the Wirtschaftswunder.