Man and the Moon (1955)

Directed by

Ward Kimball

Genre

documentary, tv movie, animation

Country

United States of America

Runtime

53 min

Rating

8.0 of 10 from 1 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This 1950s Disney television episode mixes animation and live action to explore human fascination with the Moon. It starts with a playful history of lunar myths and science, then features a rocket expert describing plans for a crewed lunar mission, which is dramatized with a near-disaster from a meteor hit.

educationallightheartedwhimsicaloptimisticinformativeslightly tensevintage

What happens

"Man and the Moon" is an episode of Disneyland, which originally aired on December 28, 1955. It was directed by Disney animator Ward Kimball. The show begins with a humorous look with a man's fascination with the Moon through animation. This segment features characteristics of the Moon depicted from William Shakespeare and children's nursery rhymes to lunar superstitions and scientific research. Then Kimball comes on with some information on the Moon, supplemented by graphics. Kimball then introduces Dr. Wernher von Braun, who discusses plans for a trip around the Moon. Dr. Wernher von Braun was employed as a technical consultant on this film by Walt Disney, and on a number of other Disney films. He had a great knowledge of rockets, as he had helped to develop the V-2 rocket while working for Nazi Germany. Finally, a live action simulation from inside and outside the crewed ship Lunar Recon Ship RM-1 dramatizes what such an expedition might be like, including an almost-disastrous hit by a very small meteor. Towards the end, this film presents what seems to be a bit of "sci-fi"; as the RM-1, crossing the Moon's night side, approaches the night/day terminator, high radiation is suddenly detected, and a flare fired over the area reveals what looks like a rectangular double wall, or the ruins thereof, extending out from a crater; strangely, none of the crew remark on it, and the unusual radiation is never mentioned again. This episode later reaired in 1959 under a new title: "Tomorrow the Moon". This episode was preceded by "Man in Space" and followed by "Mars and Beyond". It was repeated on June 13, 1956, and September 25, 1959. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Man in Space (1955)
• Apollo 13 (1995)
• From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
• The Secret History of the Moon
• Moon Rockets (1947)
• Eyes in Outer Space (1959)
• Our Mr. Sun (1956)
• Woodpecker in the Moon (1959)