Prologue (2015 film)

It was to be the first part of a planned feature film based on the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, in which Greek women withhold sexual privilege from their husbands and lovers in order to end a war. The short film depicts the gruesome combat between ancient Greek soldiers, resulting in the death of every combatant and the reveal that the entire skirmish was witnessed by a little girl, who runs off to the comfort of an older woman.

Prologue is the first six minutes of Richard Williams' then-planned hand-drawn feature film Lysistrata, based on the ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, which Williams joked should be sub-titled "Will I Live to Finish It?".^[2] Williams described Prologue as "the only thing so far in my career that I've ever really been pleased with."^[3] In 2013 Williams told The Guardian, "All I need is some time and five or six assistants who can draw like hell." The film was intended to be "grim but funny and salacious and sexy".^[2] Like his version of The Thief and the Cobbler, Prologue would never be completed. But, as Williams put it: "it's the doing of it that matters. Do it for the love of it. That's all there is".^[4]

The film was a critical success and gained many awards and nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film.^[5][6]

• 2016: Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film – Nominated (lost to Bear Story)^[7][8]
• 2016: BAFTA Award for Best Short Animation – Nominated

Lysistrata, a six-minute short, is set to be previewed at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June.^[9]