"My friends, I address you all tonight as you truly are; wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventurers, magicians... Come and dream with me."

—Georges Méliès

Today’s first-ever Virtual Reality (VR) / 360° interactive Doodle—created in collaboration with the Google Spotlight Stories, Google Arts & Culture, and Cinémathèque Française teams—celebrates Georges Méliès, the trailblazing French illusionist and film director on the release date of what is considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces: À la conquête du pôle (The Conquest of the Pole, 1912). Méliès pioneered numerous technical and narrative film techniques in the early days of cinema, primarily in the use of special effects and creation of some of the earliest films of the science fiction genre.

Enjoy the full Google Doodle VR experience on mobile, Cardboard, or Daydream by downloading the Google Spotlight Stories app now on Google Play or in the App Store. You can also experience the Doodle without a headset as a 360° video on the Google Spotlight Stories YouTube Channel!

Special thanks to Méliès experts at The Cinémathèque Française for their partnership on this project. Below, Laurent Mannoni, Director of Heritage at The Cinémathèque Française, shares more about Méliès and his impact on the world of cinema:

Over a hundred years later, we can thank the pioneering mind of Georges Méliès for much of the cinematographic wonder and special effects we see today. The title of one of his films, L'Homme-Orchestre (The One-Man Band, 1900), perfectly captures all that he was: a cartoonist, painter, caricaturist, magician, director of Robert-Houdin theater, set designer, comedian, writer, actor, technician, fantasy enthusiast, visionary of more than 500 films, and owner of the first glazed studio designed for the cinema. He was involved in ALL aspects of production for his works, from drawing set concepts to directing actors.

Méliès’ contribution to the seventh art was revolutionary. In a time when cinematography was nascent and almost exclusively documentary-style, Melies single handedly opened the doors of the dream, the magic, and the fiction. He accomplished this fundamental act by uniting the universes of Robert-Houdin with the chronophotography and cinematography of Marey and the Lumière brothers. The entire body of Méliès' work shines with dynamic fantasy, boundless imagination, and an irresistible jubilation. The worlds he created were explosive and a unique mixture of phantasmagoria, devilry, trompe-l'oeil, illusions, flames, fumes, and vapors.

Méliès often drew inspiration from current events. For example, his film A la Conquête du Pôle (The Conquest of the Pole, 1912) gives a comical and magical interpretation of the then recent explorations of Amundsen and his unfortunate competitors. He even built a "Snow Giant" inside his glazed Montreuil studio for the film, whose head alone measured two meters (over 6.5 feet) tall!

But Méliès also proved himself to be a visionary of what was to come. His film Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon, 1902) is a burlesque and wonderful prediction of the landing of man on the moon, which would take place 67 years later. Similarly, Le Tunnel sous la Manche ou le Cauchemar franco-anglais (Tunneling the English Channel, 1907) predicted the Channel Tunnel well before it was drilled. He also imagined and built numerous scientific novelties for his time: he constructed his own solar eclipse using stage machinery in Éclipse du soleil en pleine lune (The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon, 1907), he mocked trendy medicine in Hydrothérapie fantastique (The Doctor’s Secret, 1909), he staged an electric factory in A la Conquête du Pôle (The Conquest of the Pole, 1912), and he imagined modern television in Photographie électrique à distance (Electrical Photographer [Long Distance Wireless Photography], 1908) many years in advance.

An amazingly agile actor and remarkable mime, Méliès also starred in almost all of his films. He sometimes even multiplies on stage, as in L'Homme-Orchestre (The One-Man Band, 1900), when seven Méliès appear in the same frame! Thanks to an optical trick, he even inflates his head until it explodes in L’Homme à la tête de caoutchouc (The Man with the Rubber Head, 1902).

Both of the examples above bring us to another major contribution of his pioneering mind: special effects. The magic of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg today could not have been possible without Méliès’ development of techniques across theatrical machinery, pyrotechnics, optical effects, horizontal and vertical dropouts, camera stops, crossfades, overprints, conjuring, editing effects, and color effects on film.

Méliès was fascinated by new technologies and was constantly on the lookout for new inventions. I imagine he would have been delighted to live in our era, which is so rich with immersive cinema, digital effects, and spectacular images on screen. I have no doubt he would have been flattered to find himself in the limelight via today’s very first Virtual Reality / 360° video Google Doodle, propelled around the world thanks to a new medium with boundless magical powers.


Explore original Georges Méliès memorabilia and discover the story behind the invention of the first cinema studio and special effects by visiting our new Google Arts & Culture exhibit, created in collaboration with The Cinémathèque Française in Paris, France.

Doodler and project art lead Hélène Leroux shares a behind-the-scenes look of the development of the Doodle, produced by Nexus Studios:

Georges Méliès transformed the world of cinema (and our lives!) more than a century ago. What a pleasure it has been to discover the immensity of the work and legacy he left behind through hundreds of film! He saw film and cameras as more than just tools to capture images. He saw them as vehicles to transport & truly immerse people into a story.

Méliès brought magic to filmmaking through dozens of tricks and illusions. What better way to pay homage to this then by using one of the most innovative and immersive tools we have for storytelling today: Virtual Reality!

In the Doodle, Co-director Fx Goby, Nexus Studios, and I wanted to highlight several tricks Méliès pioneered while also transporting the viewer into a magical world and story. Below are some examples of this:


How did he do it?: Méliès would film himself multiple times over the same film strip!

Film where this is featured: L'Homme-Orchestre (The One-Man Band, 1900)

How did he do it?: Méliès would stop the camera from filming, switch characters, and start filming again

Film where this is featured: The Living Playing Cards, 1905

How did he do it?: Méliès would place a black cache right in front of the camera to give the illusion of elements disappearing

Film where this is featured: The Four Troublesome Heads, 1898

How did he do it?: Méliès would use the same technique as above, but this time, he would film another bit of film on top of the black cache

Film where this is featured: The Mermaid, 1904

How did he do it?: Méliès would stop the camera, have the character walk out, and start filming again

Film where this is featured: Trip to the Moon, 1902

In addition to being a magician, Méliès was an expert storyteller, so it was important for the Doodle to have a clear story. We approached it as if it were a ballet or play you watch at the theatre, where YOU get to choose where to look. In these situations, the spectator becomes the camera, editing their own film.

Here is an early sketch showing the layered story (it was important to have clear separation between the layers). The main elements of the story, such as the primary character animations, take place in the red section. Secondary scenes, such as musician characters playing the score, take place in the yellow section. Finally, loop animations of decorative elements and special surprises take place in the blue section!

Fun Fact: Jehanne D’Alcy was an actress who played in Méliès’ films and later became his wife!

I wanted the art in the Doodle to represent the handmade worlds Méliès created in his films. He created and painted all the assets himself! To do this and achieve that warm feeling, I focused on a heavy painted look and added plenty of textures to the characters and elements. The team then did an incredible job adapting the 2D designs into the 3D modelling!

3D models of Hélène's 2D designs

Colors were also very important. During Méliès’ time, they couldn‘t film in color so they would have to paint every frame of the films, often using a very limited palette of colors! We chose to represent that by incorporating a strong dominant color (e.g. cyan, red, or yellow) in every scene of the film.

It was an honor to have been a part of creating an original story and experience to remind people of how much Méliès brought to the world. We hope it will inspire others to bring their own dreams to life.

Merci monsieur Méliès!

Catch more of the behind-the-scenes action in the video below!

Back to the Moon team

Directed by

Fx Goby
Hélène Leroux

Executive Producers

Karen Dufilho
Jan Pinkava
Jessica Yu

Producer

Mariano Melman Carrara

Executive Creative Director

Christopher O’Reilly

Production Manager

Derek Walsh

Technical Project Lead

Daniel Jeppsson

Head of Production

Luke Youngman

Project Leads

Mark Davies
Dave Hunt

Art Director

Hélène Leroux

Design

Céline Desrumaux
Eléna Dupressoir
Signe Cold
Rebecca Crane

Lead Animator & Rigging Consultant

Lucas Vigroux

Animation

Edwin Leeds
Florian Mounié
Pierre Plouzeau
Clement Fassler
Frankie Swan

Modelling, Shading, VFX & Spotlight Editor

Dave Hunt
Jérôme Ferra

3D Generalist & Spotlight Editor

Mark Davies

VFX, Pipeline & Shaders

Patrick Hearn

Assets Modelling, Shading & Rigging

Dorianne Fibleuil
Signe Cold

Rigging

Victor Vinyals

Maya Pipeline

Tom Melson

Studio Managers

Natalie Busuttil

Assistant Studio Manager

Samira Tristani-Firouzi

Sound Implementation

Mark Davies

IT Support

Ryan Cawthorne
Thomas Crabbe

Music Composed by

Mathieu Alvado

Performed by

The London Symphony Orchestra

Recorded by

Geoff Foster @ Air Studios

Programming and Mixing

Samy Cheboub

Pro Tools Session Preparation

Cécile Tournesac

Assisted by

John Prestage

Orchestra Contractor

Mario de Sa

Copyist

Norbert Vergonjanne

Audio Post Production

Fonic

Dubbing and VR Mixer

JM Finch

Sound Design

Barnaby Templer
JM Finch

Foley Editor

Chris Swaine

Foley Artist

Sue Harding

Sound Assistant

Rory Hunter

Google Doodle Team


Marketing Lead

Perla Campos

Lead Engineer

Jordan Thompson

UX Lead

Diana Tran

Program Manager

My-Linh Le

UX & Environmental Design

Kevin Burke

Business Affairs Lead

Madeline Belliveau

Product Manager

Noga Eshed

Google Spotlight Stories Team


Creative Director, Music & Sound

Scot Stafford

Associate Producer

Sara Diamond

Engine Lead

James Beattie

Lead Tools Engineer

Morgwn McCarty

Senior Tools Engineer

Josiah Larson

Interactive Engineer

KyeWan Sung

Software Engineers

Monika Erande
Andrea Hemphill
Guruji Panda

Audio Software Engineer

Wayne Jackson

Lead QA Engineer

Ravikumar Aluru

Production Coordinator

Zaria Gunn

Google Arts & Culture



Sixtine Fabre
Valerie Pivan
Anne Cisse
Carolyn Concepcion
Camille Jouneaux
Claire Collet

Cinémathèque Française



Frédéric Bonnaud
Jean-Christophe Mikkailoff
Laurent Mannoni
Soraya Taous
Xavier Jamet

Google France Marketing



Alice Roy De Puyfontaine
Jean-Philippe Becane