Hugo cabret is very close to his father, a museum worker and intensely curious man. In the very nascence of filmmaking, melies was an illusionistturnedfilmmaker who recognized the contributions that manipulating. However, hugo befriends the bookstore owner and he helps hugo and isabelle search a for a book on the history of film. He would have kept on living a lie, deprived of the joy and magic that movies can bring. Based on brian selznicks 2007 childrens book, martin scorseses latest film, hugo, pays tribute to early 20thcentury french filmmaker and cinematic trailblazer georges melies. The novel was made into a feature film in 2011 called hugo. The invention of hugo cabret is a young adult mystery novel by brian selznick, told in both words and pictures. The invention of hugo cabret was inspired by the famous film maker george melies. My life has taught me one lesson, hugo cabret, and not the one i thought it would. A magical quest for mechanical life by an author named gaby wood this book is about the history of automata its pronounced awtomahtah. Then a boy named hugo finds one of those broken machines in the garbage and at that moment hugo cabret was born in to the book. This joint perspective shows that hugo s progress comes from finding authority, and georges s progress comes from finding fun, mischief, and play. In 1931 paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.
He used to be a filmmaker until world war i, when his movies fell into oblivion. The invention of hugo cabret is technically georges invention, another good reason to view the characters jointly. Hugo cabret was greatly influenced by george s film a trip to the moon. The main characters of this historical, historical fiction story are hugo cabret, george melies.
The book has been awarded with caldecott medal 2008, book sense book of the year award for childrens literature 2008 and many others. Like some fantastic clock, all these disparate pieces work together to form a coherent whole. The intricate, cinematic world of hugo cabret in the invention of hugo cabret, author and illustrator brian selznick uses a striking combination of text and drawings to tell the story of hugo. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. Its themes include the survival of art, the perseverance of love, and the redeeming power of friendship. Georges meliess trip to the moon suny series, horizons of cinema matthew solomon. If it werent for the kid, georges may never have reconnected with his moviemaking past. Georges melies pronounced melyez was a famous filmmaker who worked from the 1890s through the 1920s. Regrettably hugo s father died in a fire at the museum his father use to work at the museum and hugo s uncle took him to live with him. The invention of hugo cabret characters gradesaver. But he still somehow finds the time and optimism to be in awe of things.
The story was inspired by the life of filmmaker george melies. Isabelle is a bridge between hugo and the annoyed toy shop owner, helping her uncle to see that hugo is a person in serious need. The invention of hugo cabret almost qualifies as a wordless book, with page after page of storytelling illustrations punctuated by intermittent pages of text. In the invention of hugo cabret, hugos got quite the hard knock life for such a little boyhe has to work on clocks, he lives in a train station, hes orphaned, and the list goes on. The invention of hugo cabret printables, classroom. Georges melies is the owner of the toy shop that hugo cabret often steals from. February 9, 2007 in the invention of hugo cabret, author and illustrator brian selznick uses a striking combination of text and drawings to tell the story of hugo, an orphan in paris, and a. It only makes sense that georges melies is the person to fill that gap in hugo s life, and to take him in as family. Hugo finds a book titled the invention of dreams with a drawing of the automaton, which he learns is a scene from the first movie his father ever saw, a trip to the moon, directed by georges melies. The invention of the invention of hugo cabret eric. Automata are mechanical figures which are made out of very complicated clockworks and can do amazing things like sing or dance or. Brian selznick, author, brian selznick, illustrator.
Hugo cabret hugo is not the perfect storybook kid, he has to lie and steal to survive. I decided to pick it up and read it and i too found the book. In 1931, an orphan who tends the clocks at a paris train station is on a mission to repair a machine left to him by his father, and he becomes involved with a crotchety toy seller and his book. Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, twelveyearold hugo cabret originally lived with his widowed father hugo s father until his death in a. His uncle was the clockmaker at the paris train station. Pdf the invention of hugo cabret book by brian selznick. Automata are mechanical figures which are made out of very complicated clockworks and can do amazing things like sing or dance or swing on a trapeze or. Explore classroom activities, puzzles, teacher resources and. The name and contributions of georges melies are resurrected both in the book and in the real world in an instance where art imitates lifeand vice versa thank you oscar wilde. I decided to pick it up and read it and i too found the book to be fantastic.
Born on this day in 1861, cinemagician, georges melies was reintroduced to a whole new generation of film fans and bibliophiles through brian selnicks monumental 2007 book, the invention of hugo cabret. We root for hugo throughout the book, relating to his sad story and the harsh reality he faces. When he meets a shopkeeper, who runs a toy booth, and a girl named isabelle, his life starts to change. The book is about a boy named hugo cabret, an orphan living secretly in the walls of a train station in paris who becomes. Hugo, an orphan, thief, and clock keeper, lives alone in the walls of a paris train station. The action revolves his notebook, a key, and an automaton. The movie was based on a book by brian selznick, the invention of hugo cabret 2007. Wonderstruck the marvels brians new book georges melies is a very important part of the invention of hugo cabret.
Everything has a purpose, clocks tell you the time, trains takes you to places. The novel revolves round 12yearold orphan, hugo cabret, who lives in an old apartment above a train station in paris, where he tends to the 27 clocks in the building each day. The invention of hugo cabret is a story about georges melies that the author began thinking about over 15 years ago and took about twoandahalf years to complete. Hugo cabret is an orphan, who was taken in by his uncle claude cabret after his fathers death. The story of the orphan hugo, his friend isabelle, and the automaton they salvage is all deftly woven into the true story of the rediscovery of georges melies, a magician who created many eyepopping short silent films at the turn of the century. During the story the rough edges of hugo are smoothed out to reveal a brave and daring boy who would do anything to find the truth and for his family. I first learned of the book from a fellow performer who raved about it. Based on the invention of hugo cabret, a beautiful book, half graphic novel, half prose tale, by brian selznick, the movie is a delightful. The invention of hugo cabret is an example of historical fiction told in both pictures and words. Enter the world of hugo cabret, a magical mixture of graphic novel, picture book and film narrative which, says judy clark, will obsess your class for weeks wellknown illustrator brian selznicks intriguing the invention of hugo cabret is a real treasure.
921 586 884 1077 534 1076 45 1312 853 537 153 686 843 747 1313 1493 848 473 1168 1445 1223 621 770 127 328 1090 1134 967