The Apostle(Movie, 1917)

El Apóstol (English: The Apostle) is a 1917 lost Argentine animated film using cutout animation. Italian-Argentine immigrants Quirino Cristiani and Federico Valle directed and produced, respectively. Historians consider it the world's first animated feature film. The film began production after the success of Cristiani and Valle's short film, La intervención a la provincia de Buenos Aires, and was produced in less than ten months or in twelve months; accounts differ. Its script was written by Alfonso de Laferrére, the background models of Buenos Aires were created by Andrés Ducaud, and the initial character designs were drawn by Diógenes Taborda. El Apóstol is a satire based on Argentina's president at the time, Hipólito Yrigoyen. In the film, Yrigoyen dreams about going to Mount Olympus and discussing politics with the gods before using one of Zeus's lightning bolts to cleanse Buenos Aires of corruption. Well-received at the time in Buenos Aires, it was not distributed in other Argentine provinces or other countries. The film was destroyed in a 1926 fire in Valle's studio. ()