Zepped (1916)

Zepped is a 1916 propaganda comedy short film about a German Zeppelin attack on London during the First World War. Charlie Chaplin appears in the film, although it is unlikely he himself was involved in the production. Making use of stop-motion animation, Zepped uses possibly previously unknown outtakes of three or four earlier Chaplin films: His New Profession (1914), A Jitney Elopement (1915) and The Tramp (1915), and according to Bonhams, By the Sea (1915). Two copies are known: one was unknowingly purchased by a collector who bought an old film reel tin on eBay for £3.20 (about $5) in September 2009 and found the nitrate film inside. He put it up for auction in June 2011 but the sole bid did not reach the £100,000 ($160,000) reserve price. The second copy was found in a tin of assorted items bought from a secondhand shop in Sheffield in July 2011.

Film Summary
"Zepped" is a mixed category movie employing animation, live-action, and documentary film strategies, developed in London in 1916. The 7-minute short film utilizes archival footage of World War I, live-action shots of Charlie Chaplin, and the first-ever animation to mock Zeppelin warfare.

Plot Summary
At the start of the movie, the viewer is presented to Charlie Chaplin's character, the "Little Tramp", as he walks casually with the significant scenes of war occurring in the background. The plot unfolds when a German Zeppelin drops a bomb, however Chaplin nonchalantly kicks it back onboard like a football, triggering the Zeppelin to blow up.

There are circumstances where characters stop their own actions to relish a minute of Chaplin's performances. Whole scenes are developed to stage Chaplin's comedy, which acts as the counterpoint to the ongoing war.

Animation and Visual Effects
The film is notable for its use of multimedias-- archival video, live-action series, and animation-- all interwoven seamlessly. Especially, among the earliest animations appears in the kind of an enormous and caricatured Zeppelin, personified with sneering facial features and dinosaur-like teeth. The Zeppelin is seen to chomp through buildings, symbolizing the devastating power of these aerial devices.

Imagery and Symbolism
"Zepped" utilizes imagery and visual humor to provide a social commentary on World War I. The German Zeppelins seen assaulting Britain from the sky seem scary, however their representation as ludicrous and vicious monsters makes them less powerful. Chaplin's character constantly beats them with comic result, contrasting the real-life worry that accompanied these quiet predators of the sky throughout their time.

Cultural and Historical Significance
The film supplies a special insight into how individuals of the time saw the war and used humor as a coping mechanism. Particularly, the cartoonish image of the Zeppelin encapsulates the British spirit of playing down grim circumstances. Integrating humor and scary, Zepped intended to bring a smile in the midst of the chaos and the genuine danger of Zeppelin air raids, stressing human strength in the face of adversity.

Additionally, "Zepped" experiments with a frequent style in Chaplin's work: machinery and industrialization being at chances with humanity. Here, it uses the new air-borne war device as a device to spoof warfare and celebrate Chaplin's capability to humanely, humorously overcome the situation.

Endnote
"Zepped" is a culturally abundant piece of history, an imaginative experiment in animation, and an unprecedented affair combining 3 media types to produce a comedic yet pertinent social commentary. The film has historical roots in early animation and war satire. While it's Chaplin's amusing silent comedy that sustains the movie, the war and its scaries hover in the background, offering a multilayered viewing experience that links fear, joy, and humor, showing the dialectics of reality.

Top Cast

Charlie Chaplin