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How did Hans Richter and Viking Eggeling help develop abstract animation?

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Animated scene from The Wild Robot showing a round-eyed robot with a fox perched on its shoulder in a forest clearing. — Animation Scene from the 2024 science fiction animated film *The Wild Robot*, directed by Chris Sanders.

In the 1920s, the German artist Hans Richter and the Swedish artist Viking Eggeling were instrumental in pioneering abstract animation. Working in Germany, they utilized animation tables at the major UFA studio to create some of the first abstract animated films.31

Their collaborative and individual efforts helped establish a kinetic tradition in art, moving beyond the representation of movement to the presentation of movement itself. By creating animated drawings and films, they explored the potential of the medium to function independently of traditional narrative or representational subjects. This work was part of a broader avant-garde movement that sought to expand the boundaries of fine arts, and their contributions remain foundational to the history of abstract and experimental animation.231