A Trip to Mars

The obvious inspiration for this short film is Georges Méliès' 1903 A TRIP TO THE MOON, but while Méliès based his movie on a Jules Verne novel, this clearly is based on H.G. Wells' FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON -- with the names rubbed off and the site of the action changed to avoid lawsuits. Even though we see the same sort of mix of stage and movie magic that Méliès used, the purpose has shifted subtly from being special effects that the audience would gape at, to special effects that are used to get from plot point A to plot point B. When chairs float in the air, it is not to frighten and bewilder the audience and the movie's character, but to illustrate the invention of anti-gravity. When the scientist flails about while seeming to fly through outer space, it is to get to Mars. Special effects are no longer the point of the movie. They are part of the grammar.