The cartoon was hand drawn on hundreds of sheets of glass, each inlaid in a leather strips, through which a light was shone projecting the figures on a backdrop, as it was spooled from one reel to another, much like a modern film reel.
Pauvre Pierrot was one of three cartoons shown in Émile Reynaud's show entitled 'Pantomimes Lumineuses'. It's believed that over 500,000 people attended the show during it's 8 year run.
Contains 500 frames. Reynaud is believed to have given most of the presentations himself, manipulating the duration the frames were displayed, creating up to a 15 minute performance.