''El Apóstol'' ( English: ''The Apostle'') was a 1917 lost Argentine

animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

, directed and produced by

Quirino Cristiani Quirino Cristiani (2 July 1896 – 2 August 1984) was an Italian-born Argentine animation director and cartoonist, responsible for the world's first two animated feature films as well as the first animated feature film with sound, even though the ...

and respectively. Historians consider it the world's first animated feature film. Production began after the success of Cristiani and Valle's short film ''La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires'', lasting either less than ten months or twelve months; accounts differ. Its script was written by , the background models of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

were created by , and the initial character designs were drawn by Diógenes Taborda. ''El Apóstol'' is a satire based on Argentina's then-president Hipólito Yrigoyen. In the film, Yrigoyen dreams about going to

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...

and discussing politics with the gods before using one of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

's lightning bolts to cleanse Buenos Aires of corruption. Well received at the time in Buenos Aires, it was not distributed beyond that city. The film was destroyed in a 1926 fire in Valle's studio.

Plot

Argentine president Hipólito Yrigoyen dreams about ascending to Olympus dressed as an apostle. He speaks with the gods about the deeds and misdeeds of the porteños, and how they laugh at him and every political program he sets up. A few congressmen appear, and express their positions. Yrigoyen discusses the level of chaos in the capital administration with the gods, and the government's financial situation. After the discussion, Yrigoyen asks

for lightning bolts to cleanse Buenos Aires of immorality and corruption. Zeus grants his request; lightning bolts consume the city's main buildings, and Yrigoyen awakens.

Production

was an industrial-film producer who produced a newsreel, ''Actualidades Valle''. He hired

, known at the time for

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

s in daily newspapers, to help animate an experimental political vignette for Valle's newsreel. They made ''La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires'' ( English: ''Intervention in the Province of Bueno Aires''), a one-minute sketch ridiculing governor Marcelino Ugarte, using paper-cut animation, which Cristiani learned from a film by Émile Cohl. Although many Argentine sources identify the release of ''La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires'' as 1916, its actual release date is unknown. After the success of ''La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires'', Valle began working on the full-length film ''El Apóstol'', which satirized President Yrigoyen, who won the 1916 presidential election as part of the

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union (, UCR) is a major political party in Argentina. It has reached the national government on ten occasions, making it one of the most historically important parties in the country. Ideologically, the party has stood for r ...

and had a reputation for lengthy speeches and

demagoguery A demagogue (; ; ), or rabble-rouser, is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, especially through oratory that whips up the passions of crowds, Appeal to emotion, appealing to emo ...

. Valle hired to write the script and Cristiani to serve as the principle animator. Upon Cristiani's request for aid due to the meticulous nature of animation, Valled hired to build three-dimensional models of buildings in Buenos Aires. The animation method would be identical to that of ''La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires''. To attract publicity, Valle hired the popular

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

ist Diógenes "El Mono" Taborda. Taborda liked the idea of bringing his caricatures to life and gave Cristiani sketches of the characters. Although Cristiani thought they were good, they were too rigid and detailed for him to animate. Taborda left the production, daunted by the amount of work needed to complete the film, but allowed Cristiani to make his drawings simpler and easier to animate. It is unknown exactly how long ''El Apóstol'' took to produce, but it was quick for an animated film. According to different accounts, production took either a year or less than ten months. Filming was done in the studio Talleres Cinematográficos, using self-made voltaic arc lamps set up by Cristiani as artificial light. A total of 58,000 frames were filmed, clocking in at one hour and ten minutes. The destruction of Buenos Aires scene at film's conclusion used the three-dimensional models of the city created by Ducaus.

Reception and legacy

''El Apóstol'' was released on November 9, 1917, at the Cine Select-Suipacha. The film was successful in Buenos Aires, with newspapers favorably reviewing the film. ''Crítica'', ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal ''Clarín (Argentine newspaper), Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argen ...

'', and ''La Película'' considered ''El Apóstol'' a cinematic advancement, and '' La Razón'' considered it good satire. The destruction of Buenos Aires near the end of the film was considered its most impressive scene. While ''El Apóstol'' was initially paired with other films during cinema showings, success among the general public in Buenos Aires led to theater managers running repeated showings of the film in a single days. ''El Apóstol'' screenings lasted for six months before it was banned by the Buenos Aires town council for being a caricature of a current political situation. Because it appealed primarily to Buenos Aires residents, it was not distributed beyond its initial location, making it obscure. Cristiani reportedly received little credit for the film; he was paid a meager 1,000 pesos (Equivalent to ~

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

in 1917, or ~US$ in 2024) and received minimal credit in the intro. Cristiani left Valle due to his interference with his work such as hiring unwanted collaborators, and Valle never made another animated feature film. A 1926 fire destroyed Valle's film studio, including his equipment and the only known copy of ''El Apóstol''. It is now a lost film. Cristiani worked on many animated short films during his career and at least two other animated feature films: '' Sin dejar rastros'' ''(Without Leaving a Trace)'' and '' Peludópolis''. Cristiani retired from the animation industry in 1941. ''El Apóstol'' became known as the first animated feature-length film. Available information about ''El Apóstol'' comes from Argentine film records, the Cristiani family archives, and Cristiani's memories as recorded by Giannalberto Bendazzi.

References

Sources

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External links