Gugusse and the Automaton

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Gugusse and the Automaton, also called The Clown and the Automaton, is a short French silent film from 1897 directed by Georges Méliès. In the story, a clown watches in amazement as a metal automaton moves. The film is notable for featuring one of the earliest on-screen robots and for exploring themes of scientific experimentation, creation, and transformation. It was released by Méliès’s Star Film Company and listed as number 111 in its catalogs. For many years it was thought lost, but in 2025 the Library of Congress acquired a 35 mm nitrate print and began preservation; it is not yet available for viewing. Méliès himself collected automata from the Théâtre Robert-Houdin in Paris, which inspired his films. The automaton and Méliès’s work have influenced later stories, including Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Martin Scorsese’s Hugo.