This early silent era film was released in France circa 1908 by Segundo de Chomón. It is partially hand coloured and shows several Japanese characters and eventually a worm change into a butterfly which while flapping it's wings changes colours as it flies.
Watch the official Japanese Butterflies 1908 trailer in HD below.
Las mariposas japonesas Trailer
France 27 April 1908
United States 15 May 1908
More movie trailers, teasers, and clips from Japanese Butterflies:
Silent Film: Japanese Butterflies (1908/Segundo de Chomón) Les papillons japonais (original title) Two Japanese artists having drawn a silk worm on a screen ...
These some of the most viewed trailers for movies released in 1908:
19 July 1908
A group of people take roller skating too far.
08 May 1908
Albert Capellani's retelling of the biblical passage, previously taken to the screen by Ferdinand Zecca in 1902.
03 April 1908
A pickpocket manages to escape the police through a series of fantastic tricks. The director in this film is unknown.
24 January 1908
When the entire kitchen staff falls asleep from exhaustion, a dwarf appears and animates various objects via stop motion -- including their hands, which he cuts off while they snooze -- to do their work.
31 January 1908
Based on the story of "Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault. Titles read: The Christening of the Princess; The Good Fairies Fatal Prediction; The Royal Edict; The Princess is Sixteen Years Old; Searching for the Princess; The Prediction Comes True; Thou Shalt Sleep for a Hundred Years; A Hundred Years later the Prince Charming Goes Hunting; Prince Charming Dismisses His Escort; The Castle of Sleep; The Guard's Hall; You Have Been a Long Time Coming, prince; The Wedding of the Sleeping Beauty to Prince Charming.
06 June 1908
Two feuding houses are united with the marriage and eventual death of their children.
19 March 1908
The first scene presents before the astonished eyes of the spectators a solid piece of marble, which the minute it is placed on a table seems to take life, and one can follow a snake-like line branding on the polished face of the stone the name of the house of Pathé Frères.
29 August 1908
King Herod is enchanted by Salome's dance and grants her wish for the head of John the Baptist.
25 July 1908
A Seventeenth Century romance in which an eloping couple try to escape the wrath of the girl's father.
Have you watched Japanese Butterflies yet? What did you think about it?
Artwork, screen shots, trailers and other imagery is © 1908 Pathé Frères.