History
Fantasy films have a history almost as old as the
medium itself. However, fantasy films were
relatively few and far between until the 1980s, when
high-tech filmmaking techniques and increased
audience interest caused the genre to flourish.
What follows are some notable Fantasy films. For a
more complete list see:
List of fantasy
films
Early Years
In
the era of
silent film
the outstanding fantasy films were
Douglas
Fairbanks'
The Thief of
Bagdad (1924) and
Fritz Lang's
Die Nibelungen
(1924). Following the advent of
sound films,
audiences of all ages embraced what is surely the
best loved fantasy film of all time, 1939's
The Wizard of Oz.
Also notable of the era, the iconic 1933 film
King Kong
is not a pure example of the genre, but borrows
heavily from the
Lost World
subgenre of fantasy fiction. And
Frank Capra's
1937 picture
Lost Horizon
transported audiences to the
Himalayan
fantasy kingdom of
Shangri-La,
where the residents magically never age.
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