There's something a bit 'samey' about this four minute short from French wizard Georges Melies. It takes place on a stage containing an aquarium from which Melies scoops water which he deposits into an upturned top hat. Melies then proceeds to fish in the hat, placing his catches in the aquarium. Later, he pulls rabbits from the same hat before placing the aquarium centre-stage and closing in on it so that we can see the mermaid living inside it.
Although the use of trick photography throughout means a lot of preparation and planning must have gone into the film's making, it has the feel of being thrown together. Melies changes from a well-dressed magician to a rustic looking tramp and back again for no apparent reason and the rabbit trick seems pointless, wandering, as it does, from the aquatic theme of the rest of the film.
Although the use of trick photography throughout means a lot of preparation and planning must have gone into the film's making, it has the feel of being thrown together. Melies changes from a well-dressed magician to a rustic looking tramp and back again for no apparent reason and the rabbit trick seems pointless, wandering, as it does, from the aquatic theme of the rest of the film.