A Slippery Tale (Pantoffelhelden)
Drawn animation, Germany, 2004
Director: Susanne Seidel
Language: Gibberish
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 7 minutes
Short synopsis
Even frogs are sometimes blinded by love, but happiness is only a leap away.
Long synopsis
A frog is floating dreamily down a stream when something on the bank catches his eye. It is the most beautiful frog he has ever seen, and he falls immediately in love - failing to notice that this frog is, in fact, a soft toy attached to a pair of slippers. Blinded by love, the frog introduces himself to his new beau but is interrupted by an attack from a hungry stork.
Whisking his true love into his arms, the frog escapes to the safety of a nearby drinking trough. The frustrated stalk pulls the plug but his plan backfires when the couple are flushed down a pipe to safety. However, as the frog embraces his waterlogged sweetheart after their ordeal, he discovers her stuffing, and realises things are not quite what they seemed.
To make matters worse, the stalk has returned, intent on eating the frog. Just as the bird is about to take its first bite, the owner of the slippers grabs it by the neck, blaming it for the destruction of her beloved slippers.
This gives the frog the time to hide in the reeds. There he meets a real female frog. But before he can trust she is real, he checks carefully for stitching which earns him a slap. But he makes up for it with a kiss. The two frogs sail happily down the stream together, using the groom slipper as a boat.
Background
Using 11,000 hand-drawn frames, this animation took two years for Susanne Seidel and her team of graduates from the Film & Television Academy Konrad Wolf (HFF) to complete. Pantoffelhelden uses the hand-drawn aesthetic alongside bright colours to imbue the tale with the qualities of an old-fashioned love story, and mirror the frog's sentimental state of mind. The ironic discrepancy between the mood of the film and the audience's awareness of the mistake being made by the frog succeed in at once celebrating and questioning the very concept of true love.
Susanne Seidel, was born and grew up in Halle/Salle in Germany in 1975. having always been interested in narrative cinema and animation, Seidel produced her first film at the age of 16 and secured herself a place at the Film & Television Academy Konrad Wolf, Potsdam. Pantoffelhelden has been a hit with audiences and Seidel is developing a new short with the frog once again in a starring role.
Teaching materials and additional materials
The teaching materials have been developed by practising teachers to provide a springboard for your own work with your pupils. Feel free to use and adapt them appropriate to your pupils' needs.
There are also some stills and additional materials, provided by the film-makers, that can be used to develop your work with the film and deepen pupils' understanding of the process of film-making.
