The first Brazilian animated short film was the title Kaiser, created by cartoonist Álvaro Marins, who used the pseudonym Seth. This film was presented in January 1917 at the former Cine Pathé, located in the center of Rio de Janeiro. This screening took place nine years after the release of Fantasmagorie (1908), the first world animation, made by the Frenchman Émile Cohl.
Kaiser had a character of political satire, a striking feature of Seth's work, who also produced caricatures and comics for newspapers and magazines of the time. In the plot, German Emperor Wilhelm II wears a helmet on a globe, which was a reference to the country's expansionist ambitions during World War I. Subsequently, the globe comes to life, expands, and ends up swallowing the German leader.
Produced in black and white and without a soundtrack, Kaiser received funding from journalist and businessman Sampaio Corrêa, founder of the newspaper A Tarde. According to the Cinemateca Brasileira, the film was shown in the United States, although little is known about it, as only a single frame of the film has been preserved to date.
Later, in 2013, the documentary Luz, Anima e Ação promoted the recreation and reinterpretation of the work by eight national artists. After Kaiser, Seth directed his career towards advertising and died in 1949. Four years later, in 1953, the first Brazilian animated feature film, Sinfonia Amazônica, by Anélio Latini Filho, was released.
Sinfonia Amazônica, with a duration of 61 minutes, narrates various Amazonian legends, including those of Iara, the Jaguar, and the origin of the Amazon River. The plot is led by the young indigenous person Curumi and his companion, a boto. Latini Filho achieved a remarkable feat for contemporary cinema by animating the entire film alone, which required more than half a million drawings worked on over five years.