The Kingdom of the Fairies

A witch carries off a princess and the prince follows her down into an underwater kingdom, past a whale and into a fairy palace, with a fire at the end for good measure. The dive is the thing to see: Méliès put the camera behind an aquarium so real fish cross in front of the actors. Painted sets, hand-coloured prints, and the scale of A Trip to the Moon with more water. Star Film, 1903, about seventeen minutes.