Q: In an episode of Disneyland entitled “The Story of the Animated Drawing,” there is a brief dramatization of Charles-Émile Reynaud working with his various inventions, including his Théâtre Optique. The Théâtre Optique that appears in the episode looks as though it’s fully functional. Was this a re-creation of Reynaud’s invention built by Disney staff? Or was it borrowed from a museum? Does this Théâtre Optique still survive today?
Bradley, Laconner, Washington
A: Disney licensed footage from a 1947 film, Animated Cartoons—The Toy That Grew Up, produced by Les Films du Compas and Roger Leenhardt, for that television show. The Walt Disney Archives has no further information on that film, so they do not know if the Théâtre Optique still exists.
Dave Smith