A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune): Astronomers in wizard costumes and pointy hats take an artillery shell rocket safari to the moon, discovering mushrooms and surly aliens.

The 1902 film, inspired by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells’ moon novels among other artistic works, was Georges Méliès’ masterpiece. It incorporated every technique that he could conjure up, including splicing in instant scene changes, fade-ins and fade-outs, tracking shots, and—way ahead of his time—color.

Color was hand-painted onto the film by 200 women, producing up to 60 copies of his various films. A hand-colored version of the film was discovered in 1993 and turned over to the Filmoteca de Catalunya in Barcelona. Although in poor condition, the restoration was completed in 2011 and shown at Cannes in the same year.

Trivia: Although confirmation sources are sparse, Méliès introduced another innovation into the marketing side of movies, which in today’s world of DVDs and streaming seems commonplace: selling copies directly to consumers. He charged up to 1,000 francs (approximately $193 US) for a colorized copy of his films.

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Directed by: George Melies

Screenplay by: George Melies

Music by: Added Live during Showings. Varied by Location.

Cast: George Melies, Bleuette Bernon, Francois Lallement

Film Location: Montreuil, France

ElsBob: 9.0/10

IMDb: 8.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 100%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 90%

Metacritic Metascore: -%

Metacritic User Score: -/10

Theaters: 1 September 1902

Runtime: ~15 minutes at 15 frames per minute        

Budget: 10,000 francs (~$2000 US)

Source: Scifist.com, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb. Graphic: A Trip to the Moon Trailer.