Before computer-generated dinosaurs came to life in “Jurassic Park” and lightsabers from “Star Wars” transitioned to CGI, the visual effects behind movie magic started with one man: Georges Méliès.

Long before Hollywood became the technology-run film capital of the world, the late 19th-century French filmmaker was dubbed the “father of special effects,” with little more than camera tricks and a fresh imagination on his side.

Now, in an era where artificial intelligence can generate anything with a few typed words, one Colorado Springs native is using Méliès’ techniques and 80 vintage toys to capture the attention of the local theater scene. 

With no CGI included, just one man and his imagination lead the half-film, half-stage production of “Around the World in 80 Toys” at Millibo Art Theatre, July 10-12.

“Georges kind of figured out all the amazing things you can do to make movies,” creator and actor Thaddeus Phillips said. “After his famous film ‘A Trip to the Moon’ in 1902, he ended up destitute and basically sold toys in a train station. So we took that idea and added a pending eviction for the play, magically giving him a copy of ‘Around the World in Eighty Days.’ Then, he starts to create this global adventure with just a little toy shop.”

With the help of illusion, that toy shop quickly becomes something much bigger as a desk lamp that doubles as a camera captures the vintage toys in action.

While hidden cameras throughout the miniature set project every tiny movement onto a massive screen, Phillips’ workbench transforms into a film unfolding in real time, without a single line spoken.

Instead, the 90-minute production borrows the language of early cinema, relying on expressive movement, music and silent-film style title cards while audiences simultaneously watch both the actor and his onscreen creations.

“This is about a filmmaker who basically inspired all cinema and movies,” Phillips said. “So a lot of the music comes from old classic movies with tributes to Charlie Chaplin, Steven Spielberg, Hitchcock and Orson Welles, and it’s extra fun for kids because it’s showing them the world while being anti-AI.”

For Jim Jackson, co-founder and executive director of the MAT, that’s exactly what makes Phillips’ work unlike anything else audiences are likely to see.

“It’s a very different take on how stories are told and plays are made,” Jackson said. “We’ve worked with Thaddeus several times over the 25 years we’ve been doing this, and each show he’s brought us has had an incredible set design and a way of putting the story together that’s original and really memorable.” 

The theatrical experience is available at 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday, before the act continues at Denver’s Buntport Theater for the remainder of July. From there, the production will head overseas to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, mirroring the international path of Phillips himself.

Born in the Springs and raised in Denver, he now lives in Spain, where he created the play alongside his wife and the production’s director, Tatiana Mallarino Perez. 

The collaboration also included New York magician Steve Cuiffo, creating the show’s practical illusions while representing each stop around the world through a collection of vintage toys. 

“There is a sociopolitical context over the whole thing,” Phillips said. “Even while being an adventure, since we’re going to places that are real and alive today, the toys kind of speak to that. They speak to weird cultural histories, and in a way, they’re like artifacts from the earth. We’re speaking about the planet through these old toys.” 

For $28 per ticket, audiences can watch Phillips and his 80-member toy ensemble turn a tiny Paris train-station shop into a cinematic trip around the world at 1626 S. Tejon St. 

“The story is so beautifully integrated, and he’s a wonderful performer,” Jackson said. “I think audiences will come and leave saying ‘Oh, I’ve never seen anything like that before.’” 

IF YOU GO
What: “Around the World in 80 Toys”

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday, July 10-12

Where: Millibo Art Theatre, 1626 S. Tejon St.

Price: $28, themat.org