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The Famous Box Trick

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Illusions fantasmagoriques (English: The Famous Box Trick) is a short French silent film directed by Georges Méliès, starring him and two boys whose names are unknown. It was released in 1898.

It starts with a magician summoning a dove and putting it inside a box with clothes. He casts a spell and a boy climbs out of the box, wearing the same clothes the magician put inside. The magician hits the boy with an axe, dividing him into two boys, then transforms one of them into paper tissue and puts the other back into the box. The magician smashes the box into pieces, showing to be nothing inside, before casting another spell to make the boy reappear to transform him into an American flag and a British flag. Then he disappears in a puff of smoke before rentering the room through the door to bow.


Tropes:

  • Disappearing Box: The magician puts the boy into the box before smashing it to pieces, showing nothing inside, then he casts a spell to make the boy reappear.
  • Minimalist Cast: There are only three characters; the magician and the boy he divides into two.
  • Nameless Narrative: Everyone is left unnamed.
  • Objectshifting: The magician turns one of the boys into tissue paper and the other two flags.
  • Our Clones Are Different: The magician turns the boy into two identical boys by cutting him with an axe.
  • Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: Zig-zagged. The magician puts a dove, along with a set of clothes, into a box, then casts a spell to transform the bird into human, wearing the same clothes that were put there. But then the boy is cloned, both wearing identical clothes, one of them is transformed into paper and the other two flags, without any track of their clothes to be found.
  • Smoke Out: The magician leaves the room in a puff of smoke before reentering through the door.
  • Zig-Zagging Trope: With Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing. The magician puts a dove, along with a set of clothes, into a box, then casts a spell to transform the bird into human, wearing the same clothes that were put there. But then the boy is cloned, both wearing identical clothes, one of them is transformed into paper and the other two flags, without any track of their clothes to be found.

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