''Fly Me to the Moon'' is a 2008 computer-animated science fiction comedy film about three flies who stowaway aboard

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...

and travel to the Moon. It was directed by

Ben Stassen Ben Stassen is a Belgian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing and producing several computer-animated films such as '' A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures'' (2010), ''Robinson Crusoe'' (2016), and ''The Que ...

and written by Domonic Paris. The film was released in digital 3-D in Belgium on 30 January 2008, and in the US and Canada on 15 August 2008. The film was also released in IMAX 3-D in the US and Canada on 8 August 2008. The film serves as a fictionalized retelling of the 1969

mission by incorporating a story of three young flies that stow away on the rocket to fulfil their dream of going up to the moon, while their families take on a group of

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

flies who try to sabotage the mission. ''Fly Me to the Moon'' was produced by

nWave Pictures nWave Pictures is an animation studio based in Brussels, Belgium with an office in Los Angeles, California. History nWave Pictures was founded on 28 October 1994 by Ben Stassen. In September 2018, Matthieu Zeller's production group MZM acquired ...

in association with Illuminata Pictures, and distributed by

Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment is an American film production and distribution company. It is a label of Lionsgate Films, owned by Lionsgate Entertainment and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. History Independent era (1991–2012) Summit ...

and Vivendi Visual Entertainment in the United States. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and was a

box office disappointment A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, only grossing $41.7 million against a $25 million budget.

Plot

The narrator explains that in 1957, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

launched Earth's first satellite Sputnik 1 into orbit. In 1961, when

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

was putting a monkey named

Enos Enos or Enosh (Hebrew: , Standard ''Enosh'', Tiberian ''ʼĔnôš''; "mortal man”) may refer to: People in religious scripture * Enos (biblical figure), a genealogical figure in the Bible. * The Book of Enos, one of the books that make up the B ...

aboard Mercury Atlas 5, astronaut

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. T ...

became the first person to go to space. Feeling the sense of urgency to overtake the Soviets in the space race, U.S. President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

made a statement toward a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, stating that before the decade is out, he plans to launch a man to the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

and return him safely to the Earth. Eight years later, in 1969, an 11-year-old fly named Nat and his two best friends, I.Q. and Scooter, build a "fly-sized" rocket in a field across from Cape Canaveral,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where

sits on the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39. From his earliest memory, Nat's grandfather, Amos, often tells him of his many adventures such as his daring rescue of Amelia Earhart when she crossed the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

on her historic 1932 solo flight. Wanting to be an adventurer like his grandpa, Nat tells his friends his plan to get aboard Apollo 11 and go to the Moon. They, with some reluctance, are in. The next morning, the three flies make it in to Launch Control and stow away inside the space helmets of astronauts Neil Armstrong,

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

, and

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

. Moments later, Flight Director

Gene Kranz Eugene Francis "Gene" Kranz (born August 17, 1933) is an American aerospace engineer who served as NASA's second Chief Flight Director, directing missions of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, including the first lunar landing mission, Ap ...

in Houston's Mission Control Center gives the go for launch. As the

Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with three stages, and powered with liquid fuel. It was flown from 196 ...

rocket climbs through the atmosphere and reaches its Earth

parking orbit A parking orbit is a temporary orbit used during the launch of a spacecraft. A launch vehicle boosts into the parking orbit, then coasts for a while, then fires again to enter the final desired trajectory. The alternative to a parking orbit is ''di ...

, Nat, Scooter and IQ's mothers faint upon hearing from Grandpa that their sons will be in space for a week. Grandpa, Nat's mother, and the others watch TV to get news of their offspring's adventure. As the astronauts appear on camera, the heroic flies wave in the background, visible to other flies but barely seen by humans – except for the attentive

flight controller Flight controllers are personnel who aid space flight by working in such Mission Control Centers as NASA's Mission Control Center or ESA's European Space Operations Centre. Flight controllers work at computer consoles and use telemetry to ...

Steve Bales, who informs Armstrong of the "contaminants" on board. In the

, there are other flies watching TV – Soviet flies who cannot tolerate the idea that American flies might get to the Moon first. Special Soviet operatives are enlisted to interfere with the American mission, including an operative named Yegor. Fortunately, Nadia, a Soviet fly, hears Scooter calling out the name of Amos, who she met in Paris and loved many years ago. Onboard the Command Module ''Columbia'', as the burn cycle to enter the Moon's trans-lunar injection orbit begins, the spacecraft is violently rocked. There's a short circuit in the

service module A service module (also known as an equipment module or instrument compartment) is a component of a crewed space capsule containing a variety of support systems used for spacecraft operations. Usually located in the uninhabited area of the spacec ...

that must be fixed manually or the ship won't be able to complete its mission. Nat and I.Q. fly through a maze of wires, find the problem, and repair it just in time. Unaware of the flies' aid, the ship enters orbit and the astronauts perform the maneuver to turn ''Columbia'' around to dock with the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' and pull it away from the spent

S-IVB The S-IVB (pronounced "S-four-B") was the third stage on the Saturn V and second stage on the Saturn IB launch vehicles. Built by the Douglas Aircraft Company, it had one J-2 rocket engine. For lunar missions it was fired twice: first for Earth ...

rocket. Just as the flies congratulate each other, they are sprayed with a numbing aerosol and held captive in a test tube. The flies manage to break the vial. Nat sneaks into Armstrong's helmet as he enters ''Eagle'', which lands on

Mare Tranquillitatis Mare Tranquillitatis (Latin ''tranquillitātis'', the Sea of Tranquillity or Sea of Tranquility; see spelling differences) is a lunar mare that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on the Moon. It is the first location on another world to be ...

. From inside Armstrong's helmet, Nat beams with every awe-inspiring historic step. I.Q. and Scooter join him on the surface inside Aldrin's helmet. After a climactic rescue with Nat bringing Scooter back to ''Columbia'', ''Eagle'' is jettisoned. Back on Earth, other plots are being set in motion. After more than 30 years apart, Nadia arrives in America and visits Amos, and tells him and Nat's mother about the Soviet plot to divert the mission. Amos takes off with a vow to save the mission. At Mission Control, the Soviet operatives prepare to alter the descent codes. Unaware of the potential danger, the Apollo 11 astronauts and the flies prepare to come back home. Amos, Nat's mother, and Nadia join forces to stop Yegor and the Soviet plan as ''Columbia'' arrives near Earth's atmosphere. With their combined efforts, the Soviet threat is crushed, thus saving the astronauts and the flies. After a short period of radio silence due to ionization blackout, ''Columbia'' splashes down safely in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, where it is recovered by USS ''Hornet''. Nat, I.Q. and Scooter return to their junkyard as heroes. At the film's end, the real

appears and explains that no flies were on board during the historic flight, and it is scientifically impossible for a bug to go to space.

Cast

* Trevor Gagnon as Nat McFly * Philip Daniel Bolden as I.Q. * David Gore as Scooter *

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...

as Amos McFly *

Kelly Ripa Kelly Ripa (; born October 2, 1970) is an American actress and talk show host. Since 2001, she has been the co-host of the syndicated morning talk show '' Live! with Kelly and Ryan'' in various formats. As an actress, Ripa's best known roles ...

as Mrs. McFly *

Nicollette Sheridan Nicollette Sheridan (born 21 November 1963) is an English-born American actress. She began her career as a fashion model before landing a role in the short-lived ABC primetime soap opera '' Paper Dolls'' in 1984, as well as starring in the rom ...

as Nadia *

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

as Yegor * Ed Begley Jr. as Poopchev *

Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress, singer and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical '' Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter o ...

as Scooter's Mom *

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and honorable authority figures, he is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparke ...

as Louie *

Mimi Maynard Mimi Maynard is an American film and television actress (including voice acting) who is also a casting director and film producer. Career Since 1975, she has appeared in at least ten films and seventeen television productions, including voicin ...

as I.Q.'s Mom *

as Himself *

Cam Clarke Cam Clarke is an American voice actor, known for his work in animation, video games and commercials. Among his notable roles are Leonardo and Rocksteady in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated series, Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 ...

as Ray *

Scott Menville Scott David Menville (born February 12, 1971) is an American actor who is known for his voice work in animated films, television series and video games. Life and career Menville was born on February 12, 1971, to television animator and writer ...

as Butch * Steve Kramer as Leonid *

Max Burkholder Maxwell Henry Wolf Burkholder (born November 1, 1997) is an American actor most notable for his role as Max Braverman in the comedic television drama on NBC, '' Parenthood''. Prior to that, he became known as a voice actor for his roles as Chomp ...

as Mom's Maggot * Jessica Gee as Maggot #1 *

Mona Marshall Mona Marshall is an American voice actress, known for her work in a number of cartoons, anime shows, films and video games. Her major credits include ''South Park'', where she voices many of the female characters on the show; '' Fraggle Rock: The ...

as Maggot #2 *

Barbara Goodson Barbara Goodson is an American voice actress who has done voice-over work in cartoons and shows. Her best-known role was providing the English dub voice of the main villain Empress Rita Repulsa in the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, starting with ' ...

as Maggot #3 *

Gregg Berger Gregory Alan Berger (born December 10, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jecht from ''Final Fantasy X'' and the ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' games, Grimlock from '' The Transformers'', Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter from '' ...

as Pale Russian Flies *

Charles Rocket Charles Adams Claverie (August 28, 1949 – October 7, 2005), known by stage names Charlie Hamburger, Charlie Kennedy and Charles Rocket, was an American actor, comedian, musician, and television news reporter. He was a cast member on ''Saturda ...

as Mission Control 1961

Production

The total production budget of ''Fly Me to the Moon'' is €17.3 million (about $25.2 million). nWave financed about 75% of the budget itself. To raise the rest, investors could benefit from Belgium's Tax Shelter system. The Flanders Audiovisual Fund contributed €100,000 ($146,100), 10% of its annual budget for animation. Apart from the feature-length version, two further versions of the films exist. The 49-minute ''Attraction'' version was released across theme parks starting in the summer of 2007. Venues showing this version, which features added 4-D effects, include Isla Magica in Spain, Mirabilandia in Italy, Bellewaerde in Belgium, Bakken and Planetariet in Denmark, and Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the UK, as well as the

Adler Planetarium The Adler Planetarium is a public museum in Chicago, Illinois, dedicated to astronomy and astrophysics. It was founded in 1930 by local businessman Max Adler. Located on the northeastern tip of Northerly Island on Lake Michigan in the city, th ...

in Chicago and the

Museum of Science The Museum of Science (MoS) is a science museum and indoor zoo in Boston, Massachusetts, located in Science Park, a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Along with over 700 interactive exhibits, the museum features a number of live presentat ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. This version of the film omits the subplot about the attempt by Russian flies to sabotage the mission. The 13-minute ''Ride'' version is featured at Six Flags Great Adventure in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and

Six Flags Over Texas Six Flags Over Texas is a 212-acre (86 ha) amusement park, in Arlington, Texas, east of Fort Worth and west of Dallas. It is the first amusement park in the Six Flags chain, and features themed areas and attractions. The park opened on August 5, ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. ''Fly Me to the Moon'' marked the final film role of actor

, rather fittingly in a film about rockets; it was released three years after his death in 2005. Charles Rocket played the voice of Mission Control for the scenes set in 1961.

Release

''Fly Me to the Moon'' was distributed in the U.S. by Summit Entertainment and in the U.K. by

Momentum Pictures Momentum Pictures is a film distributor and a subsidiary of Entertainment One, itself part of Hasbro. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading in ...

. As IMAX 3-D films are usually less or around an hour, some scenes were cut and censored from the IMAX version. The IMAX version starts with the opening scene which shows the first monkey being launched to space. It then cuts to Nat sneaking out to meet his friends and sneak into the command center, cutting out the scene with Nat and Amos, discussing Amelia Earhart. The IMAX version also cuts out the Soviet subplot. ''Fly Me to the Moon'' was released on DVD in North America on 2 December 2008. Two versions were released, a standard 2-D version and a 3-D version of the film that includes two pairs of

3-D glasses Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

. Bonus features on both versions include an interactive game, production notes, and more.

Box office

''Fly Me to the Moon'' was released in 12 IMAX 3-D theaters on 8 August 2008 in Canada and the United States, and in a further 18 on 15 August 2008. The film was released widely in 3-D equipped theaters on 15 August 2008. It earned $704,000 on opening day in 452 theaters and $1,900,523 in its opening weekend, drawing in the number 12 spot. As of 4 November 2009, the film has grossed $41,412,008 worldwide.

Reception

''Fly Me to the Moon'' received predominantly negative reception from critics and reviewers. The film holds a 20% approval rating on the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 84 reviews with an average rating of 3.95/10. The site's consensus reads: "Flatly animated and indifferently scripted, ''Fly Me to the Moon'' offers little for audiences not very young children." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 36 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."

References

External links

* * * * {{Ben Stassen 2008 films Belgian animated science fiction films American animated science fiction films 2008 computer-animated films 2008 3D films 3D animated films 2000s American animated films Belgian animated films Belgian alternate history films 4D films Apollo 11 Animals in space Animated adventure films 2000s children's fantasy films Comedy films based on actual events Alternate history films Animated films about insects Films about the Apollo program Films directed by Ben Stassen Films set in 1969 Films set in the 1960s Films scored by Ramin Djawadi Lionsgate animated films Summit Entertainment animated films Summit Entertainment films Cold War films Films with live action and animation Cultural depictions of Buzz Aldrin Cultural depictions of Neil Armstrong Cultural depictions of Michael Collins (astronaut) Cultural depictions of Amelia Earhart Films about flies 2000s English-language films