A Trip to the Moon (English)

Independent Films, Public Domain

A group of men travel to the moon by being shot in a capsule from a giant cannon. They are captured by moon-men, escape, and return to the earth.

The very first fantasy-science fiction film! The motion picture was invented by the Lumiere Brothers and their first films to be shown were released in Paris in 1895. A magician by the name of Georges Melies happened to view these films at one of their shows and he was so impressed that a few months later he got his own motion picture camera and studio and in 1896 he began making short films. All of Georges Melies films were all to do with magic and changing from one scene to the next and trick photography and special effects. In his film career from 1896 to 1914, Melies directed over 400 films and the most famous of all his films was the 1902 film A Trip to the Moon.

The film only runs between 12 to 14 minutes (depending on frames per second, usually it's projected at 16 frames per second) but it is a delightful treat in it's short running time. It was of course the famous story "Le Voyage dans la Lune" by Jules Verne and it was fantasy. A Trip to The Moon has a group of explorers planning to go to the moon and shortly after, they make a rocket and shoot it out of a big gun and then it lands in the moon's eye. After the explorers discover lots of supernatural effects on the moon, they are then encountered by an alien tribe and the explorers get tied down by the tribe. And then the explorers escape, killing off the aliens and returning safely back to Earth.

Transcripts / Production notes / Scripts

Art Direction by
Claudel (uncredited)

Costume Design by
Jeanne d'Alcy

Tags

• moon
• trip
• film
• movie
• vintage

Directors:

• Georges Méliès

Producers:

• Georges Méliès

Actors:

• Victor André ... (uncredited) Bleuette Bernon ... Lady in the Moon (uncredited) Brunnet ... Astronomer (uncredited) Jeanne d'Alcy ... (uncredited) Henri Delannoy ... Captain of the Rocket (uncredited) Depierre ... (uncredited) Farjaut ... Astronomer (uncredited) Kelm ... Astronomer (uncredited) Georges Méliès ... Prof. Barbenfouillis (uncredited)