French doll maker Emile Jumeau saw Edison's talking doll at the 1889 Paris Exposition. Inspired (and no doubt seeing room for improvement) he asked Henri Lioret to develop a phonograph that would fit inside his popular Bébé Jumeau doll. Lioret was a highly skilled Paris clockmaker with a number of patents for watches and clocks (Anton 2006, 16).

Lioret invented a clockwork phonograph mechanism that would fit in a doll. The cylinders were celluloid—a first for phonograph cylinders. They generated louder, higher quality sound than the brown wax cylinders used in Edison's doll. They were also reinforced with brass on the interior, making them more robust. They held about 30 seconds of sound.

The doll was a success; about 3000 were sold (Anton 2006, 109). Lioret quickly went on to create a standalone toy phonograph on the same principles: Le Merveilleux. The Merveilleux played the same cylinders as Bébé Jumeau.