Early stop-motion animation

Champion de puzzle (The Master of a Fashionable Game / Solving the Puzzle in English) is a silent film with live-action and stop-motion animation in it. This short movie was released in 1910 and was directed by Émile Cohl. Émile Cohl (Emile Eugene Jean Louis Courtet, 1857-1938) was a French caricaturist of the largely-forgotten Incoherent Movement, cartoonist and animator. He is called ‘The Father of the Animated Cartoon’ and ‘The Oldest Parisian’.

The story in brief:

This short film depicts a group of avid puzzle solvers in a drawing room. One man solves puzzles uniquely by covering them with a handkerchief and the picture appears underneath, piece by piece. His success makes others jealous and he faces trouble before the gathering ends.


More info on Champion de puzzle and Émile Cohl:

Animation Movies by Émile Cohl