Person
Georges Méliès
Paris, France
Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861 - January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative d…
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Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861 - January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. One of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, tracking shots, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work, Méliès pioneered effects that would define cinematic special effects for decades to come. A prolific innovator in the use of special effects, Méliès accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, a method of creating seamless disappearing and/or appearing effects used throughout both films and television for decades to come. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first "Cinemagician". Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896). In early 1909 Méliès stopped making films to protest Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Parents Company monopoly, and presided over the first meeting of the International Filmmakers Congress in Paris. Further financial hardships created by his opposition to Edison and diminishing influence, Méliès disappeared from public life. By the mid-1920s he made a meager living as a candy and toy salesma in Paris, with the assistance of funds collected by other filmmakers. Although he was recognized for his contributions in cinema, Méliès spent most of his later years in poverty before being accepted into La Maison du Retraite du Cinéma, the film industry's retirement home in Orly.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2025
Satans Sacrilegious Saga
Movie Devil
- 2024
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2021
Méliès: Tales of Terror
Movie The Melomaniac
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2021
The Méliès Mystery
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2014
El hombre que quiso ser Segundo
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2012
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2011
The Extraordinary Voyage
Movie Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
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2008
Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913)
Movie Various Roles
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1997
The Magic of Méliès
Movie Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
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1979
Cinematógrafo 1900
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1979
ORG
Movie Thanks
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1978
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
TV show Self (archive footage)
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1939
Violons d'Ingres
Movie Himself (archive footage)
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1929
Gala Méliès
Movie Himself
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1913
The Voyage of M. Bourrichon
Movie Director
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1912
The Knight of the Snow
Movie Devil
More credits
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1912
Cinderella or The Glass Slipper
Movie Director
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1912
The Conquest of the Pole
Movie Le professeur Mabouloff
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1911
The Hallucinations of Baron Munchausen
Movie Director
- 1911
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1909
Whimsical Illusions
Movie The Magician
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1909
The Diabolic Tenant
Movie Le locataire diabolique
-
1909
The Spider and the Butterfly
Movie Director
-
1909
The Doctor's Secret
Movie
-
1908
The Living Doll
Movie Director
-
1908
The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess
Movie Director
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1908
Pharmaceutical Hallucinations
Movie Director
-
1908
The Fortune Favors the Brave
Movie Gnome
-
1908
Hypnotist's Revenge
Movie Director
-
1908
Moitié de polka
Movie Director
-
1908
The Fairy Dragonfly
Movie Director
-
1908
Incident from Don Quixote
Movie Director
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1908
The Duke's Good Joke
Movie Director
-
1908
A Tricky Painter’s Fate
Movie Director
-
1908
Honeymoon in a Balloon
Movie Director
-
1908
The Wonderful Charm
Movie Director
-
1908
The Old Footlight Favorite
Movie Director
-
1908
The Helping Hand
Movie Director
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1908
Grandmother's Tale and Child's Dream
Movie Director
-
1908
The Magic of Catchy Songs
Movie Director
