Taken from The Arabian Nights, the film tells the story of a wicked sorcerer who tricks Prince Achmed into mounting a magical flying horse and sends the rider off on a flight to his death. But the prince foils the magician’s plan, and soars headlong into a series of wondrous adventures…

The oldest surviving feature-length cartoon, Prince Achmed is the glittering gift of one Lotte Reiniger, a pioneer of the cut-out animation film. Her silhouette technique—evoking the old-world magic of shadow puppetry—renders this visually sumptuous milestone one of cinema’s greatest fairy tales.