ABSTRACT
The crude Gaumont-produced metamorphoses created by Emile Cohl (1857-1938), a French pioneer of animation and contemporary, even forerunner of Winsor McCay, showing faces that transformed from young to old, from beautiful to old hag, from human to animal, from 2D to 3D puppet, and from human to object to surreal hybrids, are certainly the prototype of the morphing techniques of the digital age, up to The Mask. The concept of applying metamorphoses onto human faces is as old as cartooning itself. It's not that revolutionary. It's a magician's illusion: just playing around with the novelty. Masks are a key element in the art of performing. Two masks, dating back to the Greek theatre, symbolize the art of the stage: a comedy mask that was associated with Thalia, the muse of comedy and bucolic poetry, and the tragedy mask associated with Melpomene, the muse of tragedy.
