For the first time ever, to celebrate the work of French visionary Georges Méliès, Google premiered a VR film for today’s Google Doodle (May 3.) The doodle — titled Back to the Moon, and inspired by Méliès’ iconic 1902 silent film A Trip to the Moon — is a digital animation packed with multiple references to Méliès’ innovative characters and work.
“George Méliès transformed the world of cinema more than a century ago,” wrote the Doodle art director Helene Leroux. “Melies brought magic to filmmaking through dozens of tricks and illusions. What better way to pay homage to this then by using one of the most innovative and immersive tools we have for storytelling today? Virtual Reality!”
“The magic of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg today could not have been possible without Méliès’ development of techniques across theatrical machinery,” said Laurent Manonni, Director of Heritage at The Cinémathèque Française.
Méliès passed away from cancer at the age of 76 in 1938. His last recorded words were “Laugh, my friends. Laugh with me, laugh for me, because I dream your dreams.”
Check out the VR video below, as well as a behind the scenes look at its development: