Edgar Allan Poe Animated

In one of the ironies of cultural transmission, the timeless quality of Poe’s work seems to depend upon its use of deliberately ancient methods of surveillance and torture. In a further paradox of sorts, Poe’s work never suffers, but only seems to shine, when technology is applied to it.


Even before his screen time in Capra’s film, shared with famous actor Eddie Albert, Poe appeared in animated film with movie stars. In the 1953 adaptation of “The Tell Tale Heart” above, a menacingly suave James Mason narrates the story.
It is interesting that Poe’s work—obsessed with isolation and bookishness and history—should have the effect it has on modern media, particularly on animation. But then again, Poe himself was a technician, interested not in the past for its own sake but in its usefulness in achieving a vivid “unity of effect.” That his almost clockwork tales would make such excellent material for such technical means of storytelling as animated film makes perfect sense.
 Watch Four Animations of Classic Poe Stories