"That such a history must begin with the work of Georges Méliès may not come as a surprise, given that he invented so many of the techniques of science-fiction filmmaking. But until recently, we didn't actually know that the cinema pioneer who 'invented everything' ever put a robot onscreen."
"Méliès himself plays the magician, who winds up an automaton dressed like the famous clown Pierrot, which is standing on a pedestal. Once wound up, the clown begins to beat the magician with his walking stick. The magician retaliates by getting a huge sledgehammer and bashing the automaton over the head, with each blow seeming to shrink it in half."
A collection of pre-World War I film reels discovered at the Library of Congress revealed a long-lost Georges Méliès film titled 'Gugusse and the Automaton.' The film depicts Méliès as a magician who winds up an automaton dressed as the clown Pierrot. The automaton then beats the magician with a walking stick, prompting the magician to retaliate with a sledgehammer that progressively shrinks the robot with each blow until it becomes a small doll. This 45-second film represents the earliest known appearance of a robot in cinema, predating the extensive history of robots in film that includes later classics like Metropolis, Blade Runner, and WALL-E.
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