The Humpty Dumpty Circus is the first animated short film created in stop-motion technique. It features a circus with acrobats and animals in motion.
The biggest English comedy hit of the year. The scene is laid on an English estate at the edge of a pond. A couple of laborers discover, protruding from the water a pair of female legs. They hasten to the rescue, secure a bench and a long plank so as to get out over the water to the point where the legs are sticking up. Just as they complete their preparations a policeman runs up and insists on going out to the rescue of the female in distress.
Three young children set up a table, and on the table is placed a miniature stage. The stage curtain opens, a carpet appears, and then the carpet unrolls by itself. Two puppet figures then come out and begin to perform a series of routines.
A combination of the story of Goldlocks and the Three Bears with the true story of how Teddy Roosevelt spared a bear cub after killing its mother while hunting, an event which led to the popularization of the teddy bear. Goldilocks goes to sleep in the bears' home after watching six teddy bears dance and do acrobatics, viewing them through a knothole in the wall. When she is awoken by the returning bear family, they give chase through the woods, but she runs to the aid of the Old Rough Rider, who saves her.
A mix of spectacle, animation and dance, the film reveals an early delight in the potential for creative fun with film form. Its director, Walter R. Booth had been described as making British films which attempted to out-Méliès Méliès.
A chef comes into the kitchen and throws a lot of rags on the floor: he then casts a spell over them, and immediately they take the form of human beings, and dance a wild saraband around the place. After performing many unique tricks they disappear into space, and are replaced by a group of knives and forks, pans, kettles and spoons. (Moving Picture World)
Some gnomes are searching for a wonderful spider that weaves webs of golden coins. Intent on their search, they are unaware that their movements are closely followed by a poor woodcutter, who also penetrates into their caves when they have caught the spider and imprisoned it there. He watches the wonderful spider making gold and other articles with wonder and in this scene the moving picture camera has excelled itself in turning out some good tricks, and finally he steals the golden spider. (Moving Picture World)
When the entire kitchen staff falls asleep from exhaustion, a dwarf appears and animates various objects via stop motion -- including their hands, which he cuts off while they snooze -- to do their work.
The first scene presents before the astonished eyes of the spectators a solid piece of marble, which the minute it is placed on a table seems to take life, and one can follow a snake-like line branding on the polished face of the stone the name of the house of Pathé Frères. As soon as this stone has been engraved, as by magic, a handsome young lady appears with a huge lump of clay covered with a cloth. As soon as the cloth is removed from the soft mass it starts whirling and turning as if stricken mad, and one is asking one's self what all the contentions are going to lead to, when the vague shape of an animal not yet discernible seems to appear, and before one has time to make one's mind as to the category of brutes to which it belongs one sees the form of a remarkably well made orang-utan modelled out of the clay, who calmly smokes his pipe. Then the statue is removed by the same winning young lady and another covered block of the same substance is carried forward.
A young boy’s toys come to life through animation.
This is not only a colored film of great beauty, but one showing a series of clever trick pictures in which great ingenuity on the part of the operator is exhibited.
An enthusiastic young couple is astounded with modern technology's giant leaps in the fascinating field of electricity.
A stop-motion film from Émile Cohl with tin soldiers, children's drawings and cannibals.
And here is an early success as he puts the viewer in the mood of a little boy, playing with his toys, running them through the paces of his little circus.
Single shot of a man behind an x-ray screen on which his x-ray is clearly visible and moving. Another man sits on a chair to the right of the screen. The x-ray image that appears on screen is same as seen in last sequence Dr. Macintyre's X-Ray Film.
A man in a suit and cap stops in front of the display of a bookseller, finds and flips… "Invisible Man" by H. G. Wells! Fascinated by the subject, he buys the book and goes home with the intention to test the invisibility formula described by the author…
Female magicians turn people into origami roosters and vice versa.
This subject portrays in a vivid manner the operations of a puppet in his efforts to see the sights.
Stop-motion film from Émile Cohl has a clown walk out in front of a group of people and do various tricks including standing on his head, riding a horse and falling face first off the horse.
Cretinetti sidesteps his creditors using several amazing tricks.