A Trip to the Moon (1898)

An astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.

Director:

Georges Méliès (uncredited)

Stars:

Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Jehanne d'Alcy	...	Phoebe - la bonne fée (uncredited)
Georges Méliès	...	L'astronome (uncredited)

Storyline

"In the opening of this film is seen the astronomer intently poring over his books. Suddenly, in a cloud of smoke, Satan appears and surprises the astronomer. At the command of the Fairy Queen, who suddenly appears, Satan vanishes; she awakens the astronomer and as he goes forward to meet her she disappears. The astronomer is very much excited, and, rushing over to the large telescope he tries to discover by what means she had vanished. The moon now appears, and begins her repast by eating the immense telescope used by the astronomer. The astronomer flies around apparently wild at the loss of his wonderful telescope. Suddenly the moon opens wide her mouth and there comes forth a tot of about five summers. She is immediately followed by two others, and they proceed to dance around the astronomer, and vanish one at a time until but one is left. The astronomer, picking her up, thinking he could keep her, hugs her tightly in his arms, but she also vanishes. Tired and heart-broken the ...

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Plot Keywords:

observatory | desk | demon | fairy | queen | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Georges Méliès: [moon] Becomes anthropomorphic and tries to eat the main character, and is punched away by him.

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Connections

Remade as A Trip to the Moon (1902)

User Reviews

Whimsical fantasy from Georges Méliès

An astronomer (dressed like a wizard) is visited in his observatory by various imps and fairies, and eventually a giant, eye-rolling anthropomorphic moon that eats his telescope, dissolves his umbrella, delivers a couple of frolicking moon-children, and eventually eats the old fellow himself. The entire phantasmagoric night turns out to be a dream (hence the original title ('The Astronomer's Dream'), which was more accurate than the deceptive American release "A Trip to the Moon"). The film is a wonderful showcase for Méliès' early experiments in 'trick photography' and includes a number of well done (for the era) substitution splices as the fanciful characters appear and disappear, and a clever animation scene in where images on the astronomer's black-board come to life. A clever and imaginative fantasy film from the early days of cinematography.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

None

Release Date:

1898 (France)

Also Known As:

A Trip to the Moon

Filming Locations:

Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Georges Méliès, Star-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

3 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Color (hand-colored) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1