Independent Films, Film Profiles

Un bon bock

Un bon bock (aka A Good Beer) is an 1892 French short animated film directed by Émile Reynaud. It consists of 700 individually painted images and lasts about 15 minutes.It is one of the first animated films ever made and was the first to be screened on Reynaud's modified praxinoscope, the optical theatre.Alongside Le Clown et ses chiens and Pauvre Pierrot it was broadcast in October 1892 when Emile Reynaud opened his Théâtre Optique at the Musée Grévin. The combined performance of all three films was known as Pantomimes Lumineuses. These were the first animated pictures publicly broadcast by means of picture bands. Reynaud gave the whole presentation himself manipulating the images.It is considered a lost film. No copy exists, as Reynaud threw all but two of his picture bands into the Seine.