The Invention of Hugo Cabret
 | |
| Author | Jack Frost |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Brian Selznick |
| Language | English |
| Series | None |
| Genre | Historical Fiction |
| Publisher | Scholastic Press |
Publication date | January 30, 2007 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 526 pgs. |
| ISBN | 978-0-439-81378-5 |
| OCLC | 67383288 |
| LC Class | PZ7.S4654 Inv 2007 |
The Invention of Hugo Cabret is an American historical fiction book written and illustrated by Brian Selznick and published by Scholastic. The hardcover edition was released on January 30, 2007, and the paperback edition was released on June 2, 2008. With 284 pictures between the book's 533 pages, the book depends as much on its pictures as it does on the words. Selznick himself has described the book as "not exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things."[1] The book won the 2008 Caldecott Medal,[2] the first novel to do so, as the Caldecott Medal is for picture books.
The book's primary inspiration is the true story of turn-of-the-century French pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès, his surviving films, and his collection of mechanical, wind-up figures called Automaton. Selznick decided to add Automaton to the storyline after reading Edison's Eve by Gaby Wood, which tells the story of Edison's attempt to create a talking wind-up doll. Méliès owned a set of automata, which were either sold or lost. At the end of his life Méliès was broke, even as his films were screening widely in the United States. He did work in a toy booth in a Paris railway station, hence the setting. Selznick drew Méliès's real door in the book.
Characters
- Hugo Cabret is a 12-year-old orphan who lives in the ceiling of a busy Paris railway terminal where he was the apprentice time keeper to his uncle. One day, when his uncle leaves and doesn't come back, Hugo is left alone to fend for himself. In order to survive, he steals food from local shops. Hugo's father died in a fire in a museum, after one of the guards, not knowing he was there, locked the door trapping him inside as the building caught fire. Following this Hugo went to live with his uncle, Claude. Hugo's main goal is to fix the automaton that his father found, and he had taken from the ruins of the museum after it had burned down.
- Isabelle Méliès is a god child of Georges Méliès, (godfather). She also stay with Georges Melies and Jeanne D'Alcy. She accompanies Hugo on most of his adventures. Isabelle's parents died in a car crash.
- Georges Méliès (a.k.a. Papa Georges) is an old man with a sour attitude. He runs a small toy booth in the Gare Montparnasse train station in Paris. As a young man he worked as a magician and later, an important film maker. However, after World War I, the films he produced lost popularity. He is Isabelle's godfather and Mama Jeanne's husband and finally gets a great attitude towards the end.
- Jeanne d'Alcy (Mama Jeanne) is Georges Méliès warm-hearted wife and Isabelle's godmother. She was an actress in all of her husband's movies and she is keeping the secrets about Georges movies.
- Etienne Pruchon, a friend of Isabelle and later Hugo's in the novel that wears an eyepatch and works in a cinema. He sneaked Isabelle into the cinema and once tried sneaking Hugo and Isabelle in so they can watch movies and was fired from his job. He is also a student of René Tabard.
- René Tabard, Etienne's teacher, is a film historian who loves Georges Méliès's work.
- The Station Inspector, a bitter man who is in charge of the railway station where Hugo lives in secret. He is extremely dedicated to his job, and while he seems cruel, he is not completely heartless, as is shown in saving Hugo from being run over by a train after chasing him down for stealing, though he still wants to arrest him.
Film adaptation
Martin Scorsese bought the screen rights to the book in 2007, and John Logan wrote the script. Scorsese began shooting the film in London at Shepperton Studios in June 2010. It was produced in 3D with its theatrical release on November 23, 2011, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Asa Butterfield played the lead role of Hugo, with Chloë Grace Moretz as Isabelle, Sacha Baron Cohen as the station inspector and Ben Kingsley as Papa Georges. Jude Law, Richard Griffiths, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, Frances de la Tour and Helen McCrory were also featured.[3] The film was released to universal critical acclaim, scoring a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 83 on Metacritic. In 2012, the film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and ended up winning 5 (Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects).
References
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/0439813786
- ^ American Library Association: Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present. URL accessed 27 May 2009.
- ^ "Martin Scorsese's Hugo Cabret Starts Filming Today". Movieweb. Retrieved June 29, 2010.