The 19th Century Silent Film That First Captured a Robot Attack (npr.org)
(Tuesday March 03, 2026 @05:00AM (BeauHD)
from the lost-and-found dept.)
- Reference: 0180896856
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/03/03/0439237/the-19th-century-silent-film-that-first-captured-a-robot-attack
- Source link: https://www.npr.org/2026/02/28/nx-s1-5730373/georges-melies-robot-film-1897-library-of-congress-gugusse-automate
The Library of Congress has restored [1]Gugusse et l'Automate , an 1897 short by Georges Melies that [2]likely features the first robot ever shown on film . Long thought lost, the reel was discovered in a box of decaying nitrate films donated from a Michigan family collection. NPR reports:
> The film, which can be viewed on the Library of Congress' [3]website , depicts a child-sized robot clown who grows to the size of an adult and then attacks a human clown with a stick. The human then decimates the machine with a hammer.
>
> In an [4]Instagram post , Library of Congress moving image curator Jason Evans Groth said the film represents, "probably the first instance of a robot ever captured in a moving image." (The [5]word "robot" didn't appear until 1921, when Czech dramatist Karel Capek coined it in his science fiction play R.U.R..)
>
> "Today, many of us are worried about AI and robots," said archivist and filmmaker [6]Rick Prelinger , in an email to NPR. "Well, people were thinking about robots in 1897. Very little is new."
[1] https://www.loc.gov/item/2026125501/?loclr=blogloc
[2] https://www.npr.org/2026/02/28/nx-s1-5730373/georges-melies-robot-film-1897-library-of-congress-gugusse-automate
[3] https://www.loc.gov/item/2026125501/?loclr=blogloc
[4] https://www.instagram.com/p/DVOrfufk_XL/
[5] https://www.npr.org/2025/09/11/nx-s1-5532095/where-word-robot-came-from-rur
[6] https://www.panix.com/~footage/
> The film, which can be viewed on the Library of Congress' [3]website , depicts a child-sized robot clown who grows to the size of an adult and then attacks a human clown with a stick. The human then decimates the machine with a hammer.
>
> In an [4]Instagram post , Library of Congress moving image curator Jason Evans Groth said the film represents, "probably the first instance of a robot ever captured in a moving image." (The [5]word "robot" didn't appear until 1921, when Czech dramatist Karel Capek coined it in his science fiction play R.U.R..)
>
> "Today, many of us are worried about AI and robots," said archivist and filmmaker [6]Rick Prelinger , in an email to NPR. "Well, people were thinking about robots in 1897. Very little is new."
[1] https://www.loc.gov/item/2026125501/?loclr=blogloc
[2] https://www.npr.org/2026/02/28/nx-s1-5730373/georges-melies-robot-film-1897-library-of-congress-gugusse-automate
[3] https://www.loc.gov/item/2026125501/?loclr=blogloc
[4] https://www.instagram.com/p/DVOrfufk_XL/
[5] https://www.npr.org/2025/09/11/nx-s1-5532095/where-word-robot-came-from-rur
[6] https://www.panix.com/~footage/
Spoiler (Score:2)
by backslashdot ( 95548 )
Everyone shown in that movie died.
Re: (Score:2)
by Brandano ( 1192819 )
Everybody dies. Some people should be more aware of this.
Robot? Really? (Score:2)
by paulidale ( 6575732 )
The movie was made circa thirty years before the word "robot" was even coined. It also looks more like an automata to me and they did exist at the time.
1897? Way before that. (Score:2)
In Jewish folklore theres a non living creature called a Golem (yes , I imagine thats where Tolkein got the name from) which is made from the soil. Not strictly a robot but certainly shows people could imagine solid creatures (as opposed to spirits) that weren't natural that could be created out of mundane substances.
Re: (Score:2)
The creation of life from clay is a recurring theme in many traditions, some predating the myth of the Golem: [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_of_life_from_clay
Re: (Score:2)
Fair enough. Most myths and folklore build on what came before.