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Category Archives: Film History
February 19, 2012 — What do HUGO and FINDING KUKAN have in common?
![Film Poster for HUGO Film Poster for HUGO](http://www.nestedeggproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/11720774-martin-scorseses-hugo-in-3d.jpg)
Martin Scorce’s HUGO is a tribute to film pioneer Georges Melies
Like many people who were charmed by Scorcese’s recent film HUGO, I had little knowledge of early film history or Georges Melies before seeing the movie, so I headed to the internet afterwards to find out a little more about him.
![Ben Kingsley & Martin Scorcese on the set of HUGO Photo of Ben Kingsley & Martin Scorcese on the set of HUGO](http://www.nestedeggproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2011_hugo_019-1024x682.jpg)
Ben Kingsley (center right, as Georges Melies) confers with director/producer Martin Scorsese (far right) on the set of HUGO, from Paramount Pictures and GK Films. Photo: Jaap Buitendijk.
Although Melies is recognized today as an early film innovator with a fabulous imagination, he fell out of favor during his lifetime and many of his films were melted down or destroyed.
![Still from Melies's THE MAN WITH THE RUBBER HEAD Still from Melies's THE MAN WITH THE RUBBER HEAD](http://www.nestedeggproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/MELIES1.jpg)
Still from Melies’s THE MAN WITH THE RUBBER HEAD
While reading about Melies, I ran across Wikipedia’s list of Rediscovered Films. Happily a couple of Melies’s films from the 1890s have been rediscovered in this century.
Scrolling down the list, look what film shows up in the 1940’s … Rey Scott’s KUKAN!
And that’s the answer to a film trivia question that might someday be asked on a game show in the far future – HUGO and FINDING KUKAN are both about rediscovering lost films and forgotten filmmakers.
![Georges Melies postage stamp Georges Melies postage stamp](http://www.nestedeggproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/georges-melies-1861-1938-granger.jpg)
In 1961 the French government issued a postage stamp in honor of Georges Melies’s cinematic contributions.
Maybe someday KUKAN, Rey Scott, and Li Ling-Ai will have a postage stamp dedicated to them too.