Man in Space
{{distinguish|Men in Space|Men into Space|Human spaceflight|Spaceman (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = Disneyland
| image =
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| season = 1
| episode = 20
| writer = Ward Kimball
William Bosche
| director = Ward Kimball
| teleplay =
| story =
| music = George Bruns
| photographer =
| editor = Archie Dattelbaum
| production =
| airdate = {{Start date|1955|03|09}}
| length =
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"Man in Space" is an episode of the American television series Disneyland which originally aired March 9, 1955 on ABC.{{cite book |last1=Cotter |first1=Bill |title=The Wonderful World of Disney Television |date=1997 |publisher=Hyperion Books |isbn=0-7868-6359-5 |pages=133, 156}} It was directed by Disney animator Ward Kimball. This Disneyland episode (set in Tomorrowland), was narrated partly by Kimball and also by such scientists Willy Ley,{{cite journal|last1=Telotte|first1=J. P.|title=Animating Space: Disney, Science, and Empowerment|journal=Science Fiction Studies|date=February 2008|volume=35|issue=104|url=http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/104/telotte104.htm|accessdate=June 20, 2017}} Heinz Haber, and Wernher von Braun, as well as Dick Tufeld of Lost in Space fame.
The show begins with a brief, lighthearted history of rockets, then presents discussions of satellites, a practical look (through humorous animation) at what humans will have to face in space (both physically and psychologically, such as momentum, weightlessness, radiation, even space sickness) and an imaginary view of a rocket's takeoff into space. The next episodes in this series were "Man and the Moon" and "Mars and Beyond", airing in seasons 2 and 4, respectively.
Reuse
"Man in Space" was edited into a featurette to play in theaters, accompanying "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates".
An adaptation of the episode was published (under the title "Walt Disney's Man in Space: A Science Feature from Tomorrowland") by Dell Comics as "Four Color" #716 in 1956, scripted by Don R. Christensen with art by Tony Sgroi.{{cite web|url=http://www.comics.org/issue/12960/#108421|title=GCD :: Issue :: Four Color #716 - Walt Disney's Man in Space [10cent Cover]|website=Comics.org|accessdate=August 17, 2017}} It was a "novelization" in comic book form of two Walt Disney television programs, "Man in Space" (1955) and "Man and the Moon" (1955). Also found as a 1956 UK reprint as A World Distributors Movie Classic (#45) and a 1959 combined reprint with the other two Dell Comics adaptations of "Man in Space" films as Walt Disney's Man in Space (Dell Comics Giant #27).
=Educational use=
Part of this episode was excerpted and released in 1964 as All About Weightlessness.{{cite web|url=http://disneyfilmguide.page.tl/Disney-Shorts-d--1960ies.htm|title=- Disney Shorts: 1960ies|website=Disneyfilmguide.page.tl|accessdate=August 17, 2017}}
It was also made into a "Tomorrowland adventure" book for classroom use in 1959 as Man in Space: A Tomorrowland Adventure. Walt Disney Productions. Adapted for school use by Willy Ley, Illustrated by Carbe, Nino. Syracuse, NY: LW Singer Co. Inc. (48 p.) 21 cm. Softcover.
Critical reception
About 40 million people watched the episode.{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1955-10/Galaxy_1955_10#page/n61/mode/2up | title=For Your Information | work=Galaxy | date=October 1955 | accessdate=December 16, 2013 | author=Ley, Willy | pages=60}} It was nominated for Best Documentary Short.{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/149371/Man-in-Space/details |title=NY Times: Man in Space |accessdate=November 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015180542/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/149371/Man-in-Space/details |archive-date=October 15, 2012 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1957 |title=The 29th Academy Awards (1957) Nominees and Winners |accessdate=May 31, 2019|work=oscars.org}}
=Government interest=
A copy of the show was requested by United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower to show to the Pentagon rocket experts.{{cite book|last1=Cotter|first1=Bill|title=The Wonderful World of Disney Television: A Complete History|date=1997|publisher=Hyperion|location=New York|page=64|isbn=978-0786863594}} The chair of the Soviet commission for spaceflight, Leonid I. Sedov, also requested a copy.{{cite book|last1=Piszkiewicz|first1=Dennis|title=Wernher von Braun : The Man Who Sold the Moon|date=1998|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, Conn.|page=88|isbn=978-0275962173|edition=1. publ.}}
The show also contributed, greatly, to public knowledge and interest in the possibility of human-space flight and in some ways led directly to public demand for a three-stage rocket (as was described by Wernher von Braun in "Man in Space") that would eventually be developed into the Saturn V Rocket of the Apollo Program.
Home media
The episode was released on May 18, 2004, on Walt Disney Treasures: Tomorrow Land.{{cite web |title=Tomorrowland DVD Review |url=https://www.dvdizzy.com/tomorrowland.html |website=DVD Dizzy |access-date=February 14, 2021}}
The episode, along with "Mars and Beyond", was added to Disney+ in June 2020.{{cite tweet |user= disneyplus |number= 1276485366716010498 |date= June 26, 2020 |title= This weekend, start streaming @MarvelStudios' #Avengers: Infinity War, A.N.T. Farm, and all episodes of the Original Series, #IntotheUnknown: Making #Frozen2.}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb episode}}
- {{DisneyAtoZ|title="Man in Space"}}
{{Ward Kimball}}
Category:1955 American television episodes
Category:American documentary television films
Category:Television episodes directed by Ward Kimball