This may be the 1921 "Stern von Bethlehem" by Lotte Reininger. Many years ago, I picked this up on VHS. I have subsequently seen "The Adventures of Prince Achmed", and have realized that this must be by the same artists. The print on my tape was awful, but once you got past the credits, it settled down. If you click on the credited names in this website, Lotte Reininger's name comes up, referring to the Aladdin sequence in "Achmed", which I have heard was re-cut to stand alone. I think the "direction" for this version refers only to the spoken narrative, nicely done, by the way, but sometimes clumsily written. It would be nice of IMDb to tie Reininger's work together under her name. Of course, I may be completely wrong! I am hoping that this is the "Star of Bethlehem (and three Holiday favorites)" on Amazon from Westwood Entertainment. Any Reininger scholars out there?