An early science fiction movie that remained unseen for over a hundred years is now available to watch for free, courtesy of the Library of Congress. After around 10 pre-World War I film reels were delivered to the institution, deteriorated and in poor condition, librarians meticulously began dismantling and examining them. During the restoration effort, they discovered that they were examining *Gugusse et l\u2019Automate* (*Gugusse and the Automaton*) created by George M\u00e9li\u00e8s. It’s a long-lost film rich in cinematic history, encapsulated in its brief, 45-second duration.<\/p>\n
*Gugusse et l\u2019Automate* is recognized as the first movie to showcase a robot, securing its place in sci-fi history. In the 1897 film, Gugusse the magician initiates the process by winding up his marching child automaton, Pierrot Automate. As Gugusse continues to wind, Pierrot ages abruptly multiple times until he becomes a fully grown man. Pierrot appears to malfunction and hilariously strikes Gugusse on the head, adding to the slapstick element. Gugusse then removes his automaton from its pedestal and proceeds to hilariously whack it repeatedly with an oversized mallet. With every comedic hit, the automaton seems to shrink until it vanishes entirely. The film concludes suddenly, and some experts contend that a portion of the ending footage may be missing. The footage available is a copy, at least three generations removed from the original, due to rampant pirating occurring at that time.<\/p>\n
M\u00e9li\u00e8s was a French director, actor, magician, and toymaker. He is recognized as a trailblazer of cinematic tricks, especially in the fantasy and sci-fi realms. Techniques such as double exposure, black screens, forced perspective, and the jump cut are utilized in *Gugusse et l\u2019Automate*. His passion for experimentation and innovation has left a lasting impact on cinema. More than a hundred years post-*Gugusse et l\u2019Automate*, Martin Scorsese created a movie in 2011 about a boy and an automaton set in 1931 Paris, titled *Hugo*, in homage to M\u00e9li\u00e8s.<\/p>\n
The reels were donated by Bill and Mary McFarland from Michigan. Bill’s great-grandfather was a traveling performer. Fortunately, Bill and other descendants safeguarded and maintained *Gugusse et l\u2019Automate* and other films, even in less-than-perfect conditions, providing us with a glimpse into the past.<\/p>\n
### The brief 45-second film by George M\u00e9li\u00e8s is regarded as one of the earliest examples of the sci-fi genre and was meticulously restored by librarians at the Library of Congress.<\/p>\n
> *Gugusse the magician winds up his automaton, Pierrot, while M\u00e9li\u00e8s explores the jump cut technique to age Pierrot unexpectedly.*<\/p>\n
**Sources:** [Lost 19th century film by M\u00e9li\u00e8s discovered at the Library](https:\/\/blogs.loc.gov\/loc\/2026\/02\/lost-19th-century-film-by-melies-discovered-at-the-library\/), [Lost for More Than a Century, the First \u2018Sci-Fi\u2019 Film Ever Made Resurfaces](https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2026\/03\/gugusse-et-lautomate-georges-melies\/)<\/p>\n
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An early science fiction movie that remained unseen for over a hundred years is now available to watch for free, courtesy of the Library of Congress. After around 10 pre-World War I film reels were delivered to the institution, deteriorated and in poor condition, librarians meticulously began dismantling and examining them. During the restoration effort, they discovered that they were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":555825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=555824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/555825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=555824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=555824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=555824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}