Title: Autour d'une cabine (Around a Cabin) Release Year: 1894 Director: Charles-Émile Reynaud Production Company: Théâtre Optique Runtime: Approx. 2 minutes Country: France Language: Silent Genres: Animation, Comedy, Short Film, Historical --- Overview: Autour d'une cabine (Around a Cabin) is a pioneering work of animated cinema by Charles-Émile Reynaud, a visionary French inventor and animator. This short film, exhibited as part of Reynaud’s Pantomimes Lumineuses series, showcases one of the earliest examples of frame-by-frame hand-painted animation projected to a paying audience. It depicts a lighthearted seaside scenario filled with playful antics, humor, and some subtle social satire. It was presented using Reynaud’s Théâtre Optique, a groundbreaking projection system that predates the invention of celluloid film and traditional film projectors. --- Plot Summary: Set at a beach, the film begins with a man and woman entering a seaside changing cabin. As the couple changes into bathing suits, comedic misunderstandings and flirtations ensue. They swim, splash, and interact with other beachgoers, including a mischievous dog and an onlooker who attempts to sneak a peek through the cabin. The film ends with a humorous resolution involving modesty, intrusion, and a quick escape—all in good fun. --- Production & Style: Technique: Frame-by-frame hand-painted animation on long gelatin strips, approximately 36 mm wide. Projection: Displayed using the Théâtre Optique, which utilized rotating glass plates and mirrors to simulate motion. Color: Fully hand-colored, with vibrant scenes that added charm and depth to the comic situations. Sound: Silent, but Reynaud typically performed live narration and played music during screenings. Animation Length: Comprised of roughly 700 individually painted images, allowing for a runtime of 1.5–2 minutes. --- Historical Significance: Among the first narrative animated films ever shown to a paying audience. Played during public screenings at the Musée Grévin in Paris alongside Pauvre Pierrot and Le Clown et ses Chiens. Helped define the visual grammar of animated comedy—slapstick, exaggeration, and visual gags. Demonstrates early experimentation with framing, character movement, and comic timing in animation. Represents the transition from magic lantern shows to true animation. --- Legacy & Restoration: Autour d'une cabine is one of the few surviving works from Reynaud's collection. Partial prints and reconstructions have been preserved and exhibited by the Cinémathèque Française and other archives. Reynaud’s films were largely forgotten after the rise of the Lumière brothers and celluloid film but were later recognized for their immense historical value. Often cited in documentaries and academic works on the origins of animation and visual storytelling. --- Trivia: Reynaud created his animations alone, painting each frame by hand and engineering the projection system himself. The Théâtre Optique allowed looped sequences, so Reynaud could extend scenes for dramatic or comedic effect. This film contains early depictions of swimwear and beach culture, reflecting 1890s Parisian society. Autour d'une cabine uses clever comedic timing and expressive character animation—an early precursor to techniques used by Walt Disney decades later. Reynaud was known to perform up to three shows a day at the Musée Grévin, controlling the film manually in real time. --- Hashtags: #AutourDuneCabine #CharlesEmileReynaud #1894Animation #EarlyCinema #ThéâtreOptique #PantomimesLumineuses #SilentAnimation #HandPaintedFilm #PreCinema #FrenchFilmHistory #BeachComedy #AnimatedShort #PublicDomainFilm #CinemaOrigins #VisualStorytelling