Included as part of Tomorrowland: Disney in Space and Beyond from the Disney Treasures series, the famous “Man in Space” episode is a classic. Originally airing on March 9, 1955, it was one of four episodes of the Disneyland TV show on the DVD focused on space travel. If you haven’t picked up Tomorrowland, it’s one of the series’ more reasonably priced sets. You can also watch “Man in Space” on Disney Plus.
Introduced by Walt Disney as one of his “Tomorrowland” programs, “Man in Space” mixes education and entertainment in a strangely effective mix. Renowned animator Ward Kimball directs and narrates this presentation, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short. We look back to Jules Verne stories and Georges Méliès’ early short A Trip to the Moon. Kimball moves quickly and gives an informative overview using animation and video clips. The journey then leads to increasingly powerful rockets, which were still progressing in the 1950s.
“Man in Space” appeared as part of a family TV show that millions watched each week. Would your average kid today sit through this slow-moving episode? There are many shots of rockets taking off to keep us engaged, and the attention to detail is stunning. We even have appearances from scientists like spaceflight expert Dr. Willy Ley, who describes how to fuel these rockets. Kimball wisely incorporates some animation and other visual techniques to energize the dry explanation.
Space Travel is Scary!
Venturing beyond the rockets, the next segment examines how humans will react to space travel. A George Jetson-like animated guy encounters the physical challenges of the environment and the difficulties of gravitational forces. The lighter touch works here. Poor George; he goes through a lot of trouble to bring us this information. If Mission: Space is any guide, my stomach would not handle space travel so well.
The sequence drags on for a long time, which might be a bit of overkill. German physicist Heinz Haber isn’t a thrilling narrator. Saving the day is Wernher von Braun, known to even casual space enthusiasts. He describes dangers of atmosphere outside the spacecraft and tests to see how much humans can handle. While the flight simulator he presents is simple by today’s standards, it was amazing in 1955.
“Man in Space” should excite viewers interested in the history of spaceflight or Disney completists. While the presentation is well-done, I’m not sure there is enough to entice others who don’t care about space. It’s definitely in my wheelhouse, so it was an easy watch. The animated short about the future is a highlight and cleverly projects how the missions will happen. While the predictions differ greatly from what actually occurred during the Apollo program, it’s that difference that makes this feature so much fun.
A Missed Opportunity
The space vessels in this short look more like Battlestar Galactica Vipers than anything used to reach the Moon. The follow-up episodes “Man and the Moon” and “Mars and Beyond” expand on this topic and are part of the Tomorrowland DVD. They are worth checking out for views on spaceflight well before we actually reached that great milestone. We need a TV channel for these vintage shows or more on Disney Plus. Let’s make this happen!
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Nice piece Dan. If we cant get a TV channel how about at least a YouTube channel.
That would be a start. It’s not that hard to find a lot of this content, but having it easily accessible and organized well on a TV channel would be refreshing.