''The Einstein Theory of Relativity'' (1923) is a silent animated short film directed by

Dave Fleischer Dave Fleischer (; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979) was an American film director and producer, best known as a co-owner of Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer. He was a native of New York City. Biography Fleischer was the ...

and released by Fleischer Studios.

History

In August 1922, ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...

'' published an article explaining their position that a silent film would be unsuccessful in presenting the

theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...

to the general public, arguing that only as part of a broader educational package including lecture and text would such film be successful. ''Scientific American'' then went on to review frames from an unnamed German film reported to be financially successful. Six months later, on February 8, 1923, the Fleischers released their relativity film, produced in collaboration with popular science journalist

Garrett P. Serviss Garrett Putnam Serviss (March 24, 1851 – May 25, 1929) was an American astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. Serviss was born in Sharon Springs, New York and majored in science at Cornell University. He t ...

to accompany his book on the same topic. Two versions of the Fleischer film are reported to exist – a shorter two-reel (20 minute) edit intended for general theater audiences, and a longer five-reel (50 minute) version intended for educational use. The Fleischers lifted footage from the German predecessor, '' Die Grundlagen der Einsteinschen Relativitäts-Theorie'', directed by Hanns-Walter Kornblum, for inclusion into their film. Presented here are images from the Fleischer film and German film. If actual footage was not recycled into ''The Einstein Theory of Relativity'', these images and text from the ''Scientific American'' article suggest that original visual elements from the German film were.
This film
like much of the Fleischer's work, has fallen into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

. Unlike Fleischer Studio's '' Superman'' or '' Betty Boop'' cartoons, ''The Einstein Theory of Relativity'' has very few existing prints and is available in

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ed ...

from only a few specialized

film preservation Film preservation, or film restoration, describes a series of ongoing efforts among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images they contain. In the wid ...

organizations.

References

External links

*
''The Einstein Theory of Relativity'' at Vimeo

DVD of the film bundled with guidebook by Garrett P. Serviss (and including another Fleischer documentary, ''Evolution''), from Apogee Books, . 1920s animated short films Fleischer Studios short films 1923 animated films American silent short films American black-and-white films 1920s American animated films 1923 films Short films directed by Dave Fleischer Theory of relativity 1920s educational films 1923 short films 1923 documentary films American educational films {{short-animation-film-stub