Berthold Bartosch was born in Bohemia (now Czech Republic) in 1893.

He moved to Berlin in 1920 and collaborated with Lotte Reiniger on her paper silhouette animations:

• The Ornament of the Loving Heart
• The Battle of Skagerrak
• The Adventures of Prince Achmed
• Dr Dolittle

In 1930 Bartosch moved to Paris and created the 30 minute film entitled "The Idea" to which he is most remembered for. It is described as the first serious, poetic, tragic work in animation. The film's characters and backdrops were composed of several layers of different types of paper. From semi-transparent to thick cardboard.