The Microscopic Dancer
About The Microscopic Dancer
A juggler, played by Georges Méliès, pulls eggs from his servant’s mouth, breaks them into a hat, and beats them. He draws out one egg as large as the hat. A dancer the size of a doll steps out and dances on the table, then grows to a woman’s size and dances on the floor. The juggler and the dancer vanish. The French title is La Danseuse microscopique. American titles were The Dancing Midget and Marvellous Egg Production.
Cast & crew
More about The Microscopic Dancer
The action is the text of the Méliès catalog. Wikidata times the film at 3 minutes. A Cinetimes listing says 2 minutes and gives 19 April 1902. A Commons file uses the French title.
Themes
Making
Méliès sold the short on the catalog’s own description: eggs, one giant egg, a doll-sized dancer who grows, then a disappearance.
Preservation
The film survives. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The eggs come from the servant’s mouth, not from a basket.
- The large egg is the one that hatches the dancer.
- Two American titles were used for the same short.
- Méliès is the juggler.
Scenes
- Eggs come out of the servant’s mouth and go into the hat.
- A doll-sized dancer performs on the table.
- She grows, dances on the floor, and both of them disappear.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (La Danseuse microscopique (1902).webm)
