Animated stories: the collection of lithographic films of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema

“Original and truly impressive!”, “The most educational toy, with a surprising effect and a great success” and “Silent operation combined with excellent reproduction of moving images”: these are just some of the slogans that appeared in the advertising catalogues for lithographic films designed for toy magic lantern projectors for home or family use.

On the occasion of the 2026 World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema – Turin, Italy presents a small selection of digitally restored lithographic films part of a collaborative project between the Museum’s collections of Archaeology of Cinema and Film Archive and the Film Restoration Laboratory.

Produced in Nuremberg from the late 19th century (c. 1897/1898) until the first half of the 1930s (c. 1932), the companies Bing, Plank and Carette were among the leading manufacturers of these distinctive films.

Lithographic films were produced as film loops of varying lengths and featured a wide variety of subjects and settings. They were intended for sale alongside small, hand-cranked tin toy projectors which combined the film-feeding mechanism of a cinema with the viewing method of the Magic Lantern.

Although they were made on 35 mm film and required a projector to be shown, lithographic films were not regarded as examples of cinema, but as optical toys (Optische Spielwaren in German) that could also be used for educational purposes.

In March 2026, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema began a project to research, identify and catalogue the five funds of lithographic films in his collections. This resulted in the identification and cataloguing of more than 120 items. Through this initiative, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema aims to offer a preview of a project that is still in its early stages, encouraging collaboration between specialists and archives and raising public awareness of the importance of preserving this technical and cultural cinematic heritage.