After finishing work on the film, Georges Méliès intended to release it in America and thereby make lots of money. Unfortunately, Thomas A. Edison's film technicians had already secretly made copies of it, which were shown across the US within weeks. Melies never made any money from the film's American showings, and went broke several years later. Edison made a fortune from it.
One of the earliest known science-fiction films. A segment near the end was animated, making this one of the first animated films also.
In 2002 a print was discovered in a barn in France. It was amazing in that not only is it the most complete cut of the film, but it was entirely hand-colored. It was restored and premiered at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival the following year.
Although no official credits are included, Georges Méliès left a record in a 1930 letter with cast and crew credits. Ballet girls from the Théâtre du Châtelet portrayed the stars and the rocket attendants, while the Selenites were portrayed by acrobats from the Folies Bergère.
It took three months to make the entire film.
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