The Méliès scholars Paul Hammond and John Frazer have noted that the film's highly pessimistic tone is unusual among Méliès's work; both scholars have suggested that the pessimism derives from the intense commercial pressure Méliès felt from competitors during the making of the film.
The Méliès scholars Paul Hammond and John Frazer have both noted that the film's highly pessimistic tone, built on a theme summarized by Frazer as "man's inhumanity to man," is unusual among Méliès's work. Both scholars have suggested that the pessimism derives from the intense commercial pressure Méliès felt from competitors during the making of the film.