Der Kurier des Zaren
From 1875's "La Voyage dans la lune" onward, some "féerie"s began to show a trend for incorporating scientific and technological themes into their plots, a novelty due in part to the popularity and influence of Jules Verne's works. A related and very popular genre was also derived from Verne: the "pièce de grand spectacle", an extravagantly lavish production built on a colorful but not fantasy-based plot. The genre was launched with Verne and d'Ennery's smash-hit 1874 dramatization of "Around the World in Eighty Days", quickly followed by two further adaptations from the same team, "The Children of Captain Grant" and "Michael Strogoff". The style of the "pièce de grand spectacle" was so close to the "féerie" that some critics found the terms interchangeable; Alphonse Daudet called "Around the World" "the most sumptuous, the most original of all "féeries"", while Jules Claretie said he overheard a theatregoer describe the show as "La Biche au bois" "by locomotive". Eventually, "Around the World" and "Michael Strogoff", both immensely successful, codified the "pièce de grand spectacle" as a genre of its own, in competition with the similar but magic-based form of the "classical" "féerie".