 Their biggest project was "The First Cavalry" (1929), a live-action animated film dedicated to the 1st Cavalry Army where Amalrik animated a large military map and invented a number of original techniques in the process such as a combination of stop motion and cutout animation.The movie remained one of the Soviet box office leaders for several years.In 1930 he returned to Mezhrabpomfilm where he co-directed his first traditionally animated short "Black and White" (1932) with Ivan Ivanov-Vano.