Automatic Motorist

A leisurely drive turns into an out-of-this-world adventure for a newlywed couple and their robot chauffeur.

A bride, a motorcar, a robot chauffeur and a policeman - what could possibly go wrong? Fantasy and 'trick' film pioneer W.R. Booth uses cut-out animation and models to create a truly out-of-this-world sci-fi adventure. The mad-cap plot sees a newlywed couple transported from a country lane to outer-space (via St Paul's Cathedral), where the policeman encounters some pretty feisty Saturnians...

W.R. Booth was a stage magician turned filmmaker, whose hand-drawing techniques pointed the way towards animated cartoons. His taste for fantastical imagery and Jules Verne-style journeys echoes the work of fellow illusionist Georges Méliès: the grinning moon in The Automatic Motorist is a definite nod to Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902).