A Trip to the Moon (
Le Voyage dans la Lune) is a French adventure
short film directed by
Georges Méliès and released on 1 September 1902. 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 silent 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. Its
ensemble cast of French theatrical performers is led by Méliès himself as the main character, Professor Barbenfouillis. The film features the overtly theatrical style for which Méliès became famous. In an iconic shot, the astronomers' capsule hits the
Man in the Moon in the eye, a
visual pun on the expression
dans l'œil (literally 'in the eye'), the French equivalent of the English 'bullseye'.
Film credit: Georges Méliès