Mask of the Red Death ( hr, Maska crvene smrti) is a 1969 animated short film by

Pavao Štalter Pavao Štalter ( Karanac, 25 November 1929 – Zagreb, 5 October 2021) was a Croatian animator, director, screenwriter, scenographer and artist. He is known for his many animation shorts he produced at Zagreb Film Zagreb Film is a Croatian film ...

(also main animator and main artist) and Branko Ranitović for

Zagreb Film Zagreb Film is a Croatian film company principally known for its animation studio. From Zagreb, it was founded in 1953. They have produced hundreds of animated films, as well as documentaries, television commercials, educational films and several f ...

. It is an adaptation of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

The Masque of the Red Death "The Masque of the Red Death" (originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy") is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague ...

Development

The short film is notable for its use of texturized animation, which is difficult to execute convincingly. The authors themselves describe it as a mix of collage technique and "animated paintings". The movie was two years in production.

Reception

Film critic and historian

Giannalberto Bendazzi Giannalberto Bendazzi (17 July 1946 – 13 December 2021) was an Italian animation historian, author, and professor. Life and career Born in Ravenna, Italy, and raised in Milan, Bendazzi started his career as a journalist and at the same time a ...

cited it as an example of a movie which would make people genuinely afraid. He praised the painting abilities of Štalter and described the movie as the one which invokes both admiration and disturbance. Some cite it as a potential influence for

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including ''Time Bandits'' (1981), ''B ...

Monty Python and the Holy Grail ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) an ...

, specifically the plague ridden landscape. Film critic Ralph Stephenson described it as "perhaps the most impressive translation of Poe's ghostly world into the cartoon medium". Due to its innovations in the use of background by mixing painting textures, collage and drawings, it was included in the anthology ''Art in Movement''. It is regarded as among 10 best Croatian animated short films by Croatian film critics.

References

External links

* {{The Masque of the Red Death 1969 animated films 1969 films Croatian animated short films Yugoslav animated short films Zagreb Film films Films based on works by Edgar Allan Poe Works based on The Masque of the Red Death