The Astronomer's Dream; or, The Man in 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

Details

Country:

France

Release Date:

1898 (France)

Also Known As:

The Astronomer's Dream; or, The Man in 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

When this film was imported into the United States by producer Sigmund Lubin in 1899 he re-titled it A Trip to the Moon. However this has no relation to the 1902 film A Trip to the Moon. The original translated title is "The Moon at One Meter's Distance" or freely "The Moon at Arm's Length".

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Connections

Remade as The Astronomer (2012)

User Reviews

The Astronomer Gets Mooned

This was great fun. For one thing, Melies creates an amazing moon. It has all sorts of expression. It also has a kind of nasty grin that shows it's up to no good. The story involves the Astronomer figuring out a way to go to the moon, but while he is doing that, the moon comes to him. It devours his property. It spits out people and junk and terrorizes the old man. It is very clever and longer than previous efforts. What a gift this man made to cinema.