Die Abenteuer des Baron Münchhausen - Eine Winterreise (1944)

"Die Abenteuer des Baron Münchhausen - Eine Winterreise", ein höchst gelungener farbiger Zeichentrickfilm von Hans Held (1944, 7:11 min) Directed by: Hans Held http://hans-held-haid.de/trickfilmer.html A pleasant animated short from Germany about the popular title character, made in color but containing no dialogue; it came hot on the heels of the 1943 epic film version - though the latter, apparently, left no recognizable impression on it (as the Baron here looked and acted nothing like the part as played by Hans Albers, nor was the plot 'lifted' from some particular sketch in the episodic film). In fact, the short presents only a couple of incidents (presumably taken from the book which inspired the film version in the first place, and several others made before and after it): one in which the Baron's horse ends up dangling in the air from the façade of a building (seen in the front-cover illustration of the book from which Albers reads during the modern sequences in the film, though the episode itself is not re-enacted) and then when the two of them are chased by a hungry wolf in the snow, with the latter proceeding to swallow the horse in one gulp and replaces it in leading the Baron's sled! (thanks Mario Gauci)