Nonetheless, the following cast details can be reconstructed from available evidence: When A Trip to the Moon was made, film actors performed anonymously and no credits were given the practice of supplying opening and closing credits in films was a later innovation. The final sequence (missing from some prints of the film) depicts a celebratory parade in honour of the travellers' return, including a display of the captive Selenite and the unveiling of a commemorative statue bearing the motto ' Labor omnia vincit'. Astronomer, capsule, and Selenite fall through space and land in an ocean on Earth, where they are rescued by a ship and towed ashore. A Selenite tries to seize the capsule at the last minute. The sixth astronomer, Barbenfouillis himself, uses a rope to tip the capsule over a ledge on the Moon and into space. The astronomers run back to their capsule while continuing to hit the pursuing Selenites, and five get inside. An astronomer lifts the Selenite King off his throne and throws him to the ground, causing him to explode. The Selenites capture the astronomers and take them to the palace of their king. More Selenites appear, and it becomes increasingly difficult for the astronomers to destroy them as they are surrounded.

One astronomer opens his umbrella it promptly takes root and turns into a giant mushroom itself.Īt this point, a Selenite (an insectoid alien inhabitant of the Moon, named after one of the Greek moon goddesses, Selene) appears, but it is killed easily by an astronomer, as the creatures explode if they are hit with force. Phoebe causes a snowfall that awakens the astronomers, and they seek shelter in a cavern where they discover giant mushrooms. As they sleep, a comet passes, the Big Dipper appears with human faces peering out of each star, old Saturn leans out of a window in his ringed planet, and Phoebe, goddess of the Moon, appears seated in a crescent-moon swing. Exhausted by their journey, they unroll their blankets and sleep. Landing safely on the Moon, the astronomers get out of the capsule (without the need of space suits or breathing apparatus) and watch the Earth rise in the distance. The Man in the Moon watches the capsule as it approaches, and, in an iconic shot, it hits him in the eye. The astronomers embark and their capsule is fired from the cannon with the help of 'marines', most of whom are played by young women in sailors' outfits. A space capsule in the shape of a bullet is built, along with a huge cannon to shoot it into space. After addressing some dissent, five other brave astronomers-Nostradamus, Alcofrisbas, Omega, Micromegas, and Parafaragaramus-agree to the plan. It is widely regarded as the earliest example of the science fiction film genre and, more generally, as one of the most influential films in cinema history.Īt a meeting of the Astronomy Club, its president, Professor Barbenfouillis, proposes an expedition to the Moon. The film remains Méliès' best known, and the moment in which the capsule lands in the Moon's eye remains one of the most iconic and frequently referenced images in the history of cinema. It was ranked 84th of the 100 greatest films of the 20th century by The Village Voice. Its unusual length, lavish production values, innovative special effects, and emphasis on storytelling were markedly influential on other filmmakers and ultimately on the development of narrative film as a whole. An original hand-colored print was discovered in 1993 and restored in 2011.Ī Trip to the Moon was an internationally popular success on its release and was extensively pirated by other studios, especially in the United States. Though the film disappeared into obscurity after Méliès's retirement from the film industry, it was rediscovered around 1930, when Méliès's importance to the history of cinema was beginning to be recognised by film devotees. Scholars have commented upon the film's extensive use of pataphysical and anti-imperialist satire, as well as on its wide influence on later filmmakers and its artistic significance within the French theatrical féerie tradition.

Méliès leads an ensemble cast of French theatrical performers as the main character Professor Barbenfouillis, in the overtly theatrical style for which he became famous. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon and its 1870 sequel Around the Moon, the film follows a group of astronomers who travel to the Moon in a cannon-propelled capsule, explore the Moon's surface, escape from an underground group of Selenites (lunar inhabitants), and return to Earth with a captive Selenite. A Trip to the Moon ( French: Le voyage dans la lune) is a 1902 French science-fiction adventure film directed by Georges Méliès.

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