Select a region
Google is for the first time presenting one of its celebratory Doodles in virtual reality.
Thursday’s Doodle – the play on Google’s logo marking a prominent person or event – takes inspiration from the work of French illusionist and film director Georges Melies.
The two-minute animation, called Back to the Moon, can be viewed as a 360-degree video on the Google homepage or YouTube, or in virtual reality on Android or iPhone with a Cardboard or Daydream View headset.
The title references Melies’ 1902 film A Trip To The Moon, which showcased his talent for pioneering new and unusual visual effects.
Produced by Nexus Studios, Google’s animation incorporates classic moments from Melies’ work, including illusions in which he appeared to remove his own head or seemed to make people disappear.
We're celebrating trailblazing film director Georges Méliès with a #GoogleDoodle FIRST: Virtual Reality / 360° video! 🤩 Check out how to watch → https://t.co/sziSe2snyn #BacktotheMoon pic.twitter.com/CEX3vgYBcS
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) May 3, 2018
Laurent Manonni, director of heritage at the Cinematheque Francaise, said: “In a time when cinematography was nascent and almost exclusively documentary-style, Melies single-handedly opened the doors of the dream, the magic, and the fiction.”
The Doodle comes on the release date of one of his most revered films, 1912’s The Conquest Of The Pole.
