Peludópolis: The Ghost of the First Animated Feature

Is it worth your time?

Well, you can't really watch it. That’s the catch. Peludópolis is a ghost. It’s one of those legendary lost films that historians whisper about while looking at dusty old stills.

If you’re a total animation nerd or someone obsessed with the history of cinema, you’ll find the very idea of it fascinating. If you’re just looking for something to put on while you fold laundry, you’re going to be disappointed.

The Context

Quirino Cristiani was doing things with cutouts in 1931 that feel weirdly modern. He wasn’t trying to make a cute Disney-style flick. He was aiming for the throat of the Argentine government. Imagine if Marizza had a baby with a political editorial cartoon.

The film used these jerky, hand-manipulated paper figures to mock Yrigoyen. You can almost feel the frustration behind every frame. It’s bold, it’s angry, and it was dangerous stuff for the time.

Oddly Specific Details

It’s strange to think about how much work went into a film that basically doesn't exist anymore. There’s a specific kind of tragedy in that. You see snippets of Cristiani's work in other archives, like a fleeting moment from Savitri Satyavan or bits of his early experiments, and you realize he had a real eye for movement.

Peludópolis had sound, too! It was one of the first animated films to pull that off. Can you imagine the clunky, sync-sound tech they were wrestling with? It must have been a total nightmare to get those voices to match the paper puppets.

• It’s gone. Completely vanished.
• The political satire was so sharp it actually got the president mad.
• The irony of a lost masterpiece about political downfall is just... heavy.

I find myself thinking about what those frames looked like. Was it dark? Was it just silly? Maybe a bit of both. It’s not like Dummies or some of the other weird stuff from the era. This was meant to actually do something to the audience.

It’s a shame. We talk about film preservation like it’s a standard thing, but then stuff like this just slips through the cracks. If you ever find a lost canister in an attic somewhere, let me know. 🎞️