| The Spider and the Butterfly | |
|---|---|
 Production still from the film | |
| Directed by | Georges Méliès |
| Starring | Georges Méliès |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 meters[1] |
| Country | France |
| Language | Silent |
The Spider and the Butterfly (French: Papillon fantastique) is a 1909 French silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès.
Méliès plays the magician in the film.[2]
The Spider and the Butterfly was released by Méliès's Star Film Company, and is numbered 1530–1533 in its catalogues.[1]
The end of Méliès's filmmaking career was marked by mounting financial difficulties, forcing him eventually to close his studio.[3] In 1923, Méliès discarded his collection of negative and positive prints for his films.[4] After living forgotten and in poverty for some years, Méliès was rediscovered by film devotées in the late 1920s.[5] On 16 December 1929,[6] a "Gala Méliès" was held at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, reintroducing Méliès and his work to posterity.[4]
The Gala Méliès included projection of eight Méliès films that had managed to be recovered,[4] including The Spider and the Butterfly (the others were Whimsical Illusions, The Diabolic Tenant, The Wandering Jew, A Trip to the Moon, Baron Munchausen's Dream, The Merry Frolics of Satan, and The Conquest of the Pole).[6] After the Gala, the print of The Spider and the Butterfly went missing once again;[6] it was presumed lost as of 2008.[1] A fragment of the film was rediscovered in time to be included in a 2010 DVD collection of some of Méliès's films.[7]
