The Sorcerer's Apprentice

1978 animated fantasy

Rating: 14/20

Plot: A kid becomes the titular sorcerer's apprentice but realizes quickly that his master isn't a great guy. He learns some dark arts and falls for a girl with the moon in her face. 

While done on the cheap because there was no other choice but to do things on the cheap, a lot of 70's animation benefits from the experimentation required to do things on the cheap. This isn't my favorite movie from the guy I called my favorite new director earlier this year--Karel Zeman, whose name spelled backwards is Namez Lerak--but the heavily-narrated cut-out animation is nifty and the story is quirky enough to keep one's interest, at least for the brief running time. I really like when things get weird in this--flowers transforming into skulls, a half-skinned cat thing, interesting fight choreography during a magical cockfight with these strobe effects provided by a grinning skull. Things are often a little static, likely because it was done on the cheap, but there's some attention to detail, a few surreal moments, and a couple genuinely beautiful moments. The best of the latter is when the main character Krabat sees his love interest for the first time, mostly her singing in silhouette until a bit of moonlight illuminates her face perfectly. The cut-out countenances are surprisingly expressive at times, and I liked how Krabat's peers were all gray. I guess that can happen to a fellow when you're stuck working in the mill of a magical douchebag. 

I assume this is based on a Czech folktale, but I'm far too lazy to look that up.