-
- EXCERPTS
-
- Von Braun served as technical advisor on three space-related
television films that Disney produced in the 1950s. Together, von Braun
(the engineer) and Disney (the artist) used the new medium of television
to illustrate how high man might fly on the strength of technology and
the spirit of human imagination.
-
- *************************
- Disney personally introduced the first television show,
'Man in Space', which aired on ABC on March 9, 1955.
-
- **************************
- "He provided a wealth of information on technical
details, from in-orbit fueling operations down to problems of cooking and
eating under weightlessness,"
-
- **************************
- The second show in the series also aired in 1955 and
was called 'Man and the Moon'
-
- **************************
- The final show in the series aired on December 4, 1957,
and was entitled 'Mars and Beyond'.
-
- **************************
-
- "The Disney-Von Braun Collaboration and
Its
Influence on Space Exploration"
-
- by Mike Wright Marshall Space Flight Center Historian
-
- Note: The following paper was presented by the author
in 1993 at the Southern Humanities Conference entitled "Inner Space/Outer
Space: Humanities, Technology and the Postmodern World." It was later
included in "Selected Papers from the 1993 Southern Humanities Conference,"
published by Southern Humanities Press in Huntsville and edited by Daniel
Schenker, Craig Hanks, and Susan Kray.
-
- The years after World War II left the American public
with an almost insatiable desire for space-related science fiction. In
countless movies and stories space warriors suited with fish bowl helmets
focused their ray guns on creatures from outer space. According to space
historian Walter McDougall, "After V-2s and atomic bombs, any fantasy
seemed credible." Perhaps more important, he says, the public's post-war
devotion to science fiction was a "form of cultural anticipation"
regarding the coming space age. [1]
-
- Jules Verne's science fiction had inspired Wernher von
Braun when he was young. Years later, von Braun designed the famous World
War II V-2 rocket for his native Germany, but he also dreamed of developing
vehicles that would propel artificial satellites and men into outer space.
In fact, his interest in developing rockets for space exploration, rather
than for defense, angered the Gestapo and led to two weeks in a German
prison.[2] As World War II ended, von Braun and other German rocket experts
surrendered to Allied forces and eventually emigrated from Germany to work
for the U.S. Army. Initially assigned to Fort Bliss, Texas, the von Braun
team was eventually transferred to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
On January 31, 1958, the von Braun team used a modified Jupiter C rocket
to launch Explorer 1, America's first orbiting satellite. Two years later,
von Braun became director of NASA's new George C. Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville where he and an expanded team would develop the Saturn
rockets that launched men to the moon in 1969.
-
- As the 1960s ended, von Braun had realized his dream
of exploring outer space by helping place a human on the moon and satellite
probes to the planets. His engineering and managerial expertise contributed
to a technological revolution but his respect for the power of imagination
had changed the way America perceived space exploration much earlier in
the 1950s. He believed that America's devotion to space fiction in the
early 1950s could be channeled into interest in space fact. "It was
a matter of synthesizing the philosophical aspects into neat packages and
solid statements which the public would buy," according to Erik Bergaust,
von Braun's biographer.[3]
-
- In the early 1950s, Collier's magazine invited von Braun
to publish his vision regarding space exploration. Space historian Randy
Liebermann has explained the significance of the Collier's articles: "After
25 years of continuous and directed thinking and endless hours of experimentation,
von Braun, the world's leading rocket engineer, had the chance to come
out of his sequestered military environment and through a national magazine
inform the general public of his detailed blueprint for realizing manned
space travel."[4]
-
- The articles, illustrated by leading space artists, seemed
to accomplish more than any other seriously respected cultural or artistic
medium had done in the early 1950s to suggest that the future of space
exploration would emerge indebted to both science fiction and science fact.
At its highest point, Collier's attained a circulation of approximately
4 million and these readers were excited by von Braun's vision of the future.
Even so, there were already more than 15 million television sets in America
by 1952 and von Braun recognized that this change in American culture had
the potential to fundamentally reshape American past perceptions.[5] So
did Walter Elias Disney who had used film as a powerful medium to entertain
and inform Americans since the 1940s. "Neither Walt Disney nor Dr.
von Braun were ever backward in making maximum use of new media for advancing
their ideas: Now was the age of television," said one observer.[6]
-
- Von Braun served as technical advisor on three space-related
television films that Disney produced in the 1950s. Together, von Braun
(the engineer) and Disney (the artist) used the new medium of television
to illustrate how high man might fly on the strength of technology and
the spirit of human imagination. According to David R. Smith, Director
of Archives at Walt Disney Productions, von Braun caught the attention
of Disney senior producer Ward Kimball. [7] The Collier's series had appeared
about the time that Disney decided to use television to promote Disneyland
in California. The theme park would include four major sections: Fantasyland,
Frontierland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland. Disney producers would incorporate
ideas from Disney fantasy films like Snow White, Pinocchio, and others
to promote the first area of the park. The second and third areas would
be built around Davy Crockett and other adventure films. Tomorrowland,
however, represented a real challenge. In response, Kimball contacted von
Braun who, according to Smith, "pounced on the opportunity."[8]
As a technical consultant for Disney, von Braun would join Heinz Haber,
a specialist in the emerging field of space. medicine, and Willy Ley, a
famous rocket historian.[9] All three space experts had authored the Collier's
series. Disney personally introduced the first television show, "Man
in Space," which aired on ABC on March 9, 1955. The objective, he
said, was to combine "the tools of our trade with the knowledge of
the scientists to give a factual picture of the latest plans for man's
newest adventure." He later called the show "science factual."
The show represented something new in its approach to science. But it also
relied on Disney's trademark animation techniques. [10]
-
- For example, a portion of the show was devoted to explaining
basic scientific principles using an animated bust of Sir Isaac Newton.
In one scene, an animated puppy sneezes and moves backward across a sheet
of graph paper to illustrate that for every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction. Disney also filled "Man in Space" with stereo-typical
images of learning and science. For example, Disney appears on camera against
a bookcase backdrop and introduces producer Ward Kimball complete with
a sketch pencil behind his ear. In turn, Kimball introduces the German
scientists whose accents add more style to the show. Kimball then offers
viewers the privilege to go behind the scenes to see the scientists conferring
with the Disney artists. Chalk-talk technical explanations soon break into
humorous animation. Haber begins explaining weightlessness in space. His
points are illustrated by a cigar puffing, slightly clad animated character
called "homo sapiens extra terrestrialis," whose movements are
set against a graph-like grid. Although the Disney producers employed humor
and cartoon animation in the first part of "Man in Space," von
Braun's on-camera segment was much more straightforward. "If we were
to start today on an organized, well supported space program, I believe
a practical passenger rocket could be built and tested within ten years,"
von Braun said. "Now here is my design for a four-stage orbital rocket
ship... First we would design and build the fourth stage and then tow it
into the air to test it as glider... This is the section that must ultimately
return the men to the earth safely."[11]
-
- If Disney had chosen to close "Man in Space"
after von Braun's brief lecture on the mechanical relationships between
the weight of the four-stage rocket and the fuel and power requirements
for each stage, he would not have achieved his previously stated objective.
Instead, the Disney artists used the tools of their trade to create a dramatic
animation sequence illustrating von Braun's futuristic ideas for a four-stage
rocket. The scene takes place at a launch site on a "small atoll of
coral islands in the Pacific where man is dedicated to just one cause--the
conquest of space." Against a dark blue pre-dawn sky, search lights
bathe the waiting launch vehicle while sirens sound a warning, and square-jawed
technicians study their consoles. "Now man will bet his life against
the unknown dangers of space travel," a narrator reports. [12]
-
- In reality, von Braun's on-camera appearance in "Man
in Space" and the other two films represented only a portion of his
involvement in the actual production of the three shows. Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger,
who had worked with von Braun since his days in Germany, also worked for
Disney as a technical consultant. According to Stuhlinger, von Braun made
sure the Disney artists built accurate models of the space vehicles for
the three shows. "Here von Braun was really on home grounds.... He
provided a wealth of information on technical details, from in-orbit fueling
operations down to problems of cooking and eating under weightlessness,"
Stuhlinger said. He also recalled the many hours that von Braun devoted
to the Disney projects. Von Braun's official duties for the Army often
took him to the West Coast to meet with Jupiter and Redstone contractors.
After the meetings, he and Stuhlinger would go to the Disney studios where
they would work into the morning hours with the artists and producers.[13]
-
- The second show in the series also aired in 1955 and
was called "Man and the Moon." It began with an animated sequence
devoted to legends and superstitions regarding the moon, among them the
idea that the left hind-foot of a rabbit found in a graveyard during the
dark of the moon will bring good luck.<14 As one reviewer wrote in the
New York Times following the show which aired on December 28, "this
is the kind of material that Walt Disney's technicians can devise their
brightest graphic effects and they made the most of it." [15]
-
- An educational brochure published to promote "Man
and the Moon," said, "This film presents a realistic and believable
trip to the moon in a rocket ship - not in some far-off fantastic never-never
land, but in the near foreseeable future."[16] Von Braun, complete
with a slide rule in his pocket, narrates a section of the film and describes
his ideas for a two-phase trip to the moon. The first part of the effort
would require building a space station. This base would serve as the staging
area for the second part of the trip to the moon. "Our space satellite
(station) will have the shape of a wheel measuring 250 feet across. This
outside rim will contain living and working quarters for a crew of 50 men,"
von Braun said. "Just below the radio and radar antenna is an atomic
reactor. Its heat will be used to drive a turbo generator which supplies
the station with electricity."[17]
-
- Disney archivist David Smith noted that von Braun invented
a special space suit for "Man and the Moon" and nicknamed it
the "bottle suit." [18] According to Stuhlinger, the suit resembled
a miniature space vehicle with its own atmosphere and rocket propulsion
system along with manipulator arms to accomplish assembly work in orbit.[19]
Just as he had done in "Man in Space," Disney decided to illustrate
von Braun's technical concepts. For the second show, however, Disney decided
to use live actors who portray an astronaut crew departing from the space
station for their journey around the moon. The drama intensifies when a
meteor strikes the ship, and one astronaut dons a bottle suit to make the
repairs. [20]
-
- The final show in the series aired on December 4, 1957,
and was entitled "Mars and Beyond." E.C. Slipher, an astronomer
from the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, joined von Braun and Stuhlinger
as technical consultants on the film. All three appeared on camera. The
show also included colorful animated accounts of the legend and lore related
to Mars. The narrator introduced the segment featuring von Braun and Stuhlinger
by saying, "at the present time an atomic-powered space ship has been
suggested by a leading scientist in the rocket and guided missile field,
Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger... This atomic electric space ship features a revolutionary
new principle that will make possible the long trip to Mars with only a
small expenditure of fuel."[21] Again the Disney artists employ dramatic
animation to convey Stuhlinger's and von Braun's technical explanations
regarding the 13-month journey to the Red Planet.[22]
-
- An estimated 42 million people saw the first show in
the Disney "science factual" series. [23] Contemporary television
critics responded favorably to all three shows, and they recognized the
contributions that von Braun and the other technical advisors made. "Into
it went the thinking of the best scientific minds working on space projects
today, making the picture more fact than fantasy," one reviewer said
after seeing "Mars and Beyond."[24] Disney producer Ward Kimball
realized all three shows were headed for success after the first one aired
on March 9, 1955. On July 29, 1955, President Eisenhower announced that
the U.S. would launch a small unmanned earth-circling satellite as part
of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year which would
be held from July 1957 through December 1958. [25] On August 24, Kimball
wrote a letter to von Braun saying that in order to promote plans for the
next show in the series, the Disney studios planned to "ballyhoo"
the first show as an item that contributed to Eisenhower's satellite announcement.
[26] In an August 30 letter back to Kimball, von Braun reacted with astonishment.
"For God's sake don't put it that this show triggered the presidential
announcement."[27] Kimball agreed and replied with a letter of apology.[28]
Von Braun feared that Kimball's idea might be embarrassing and upset serious
discussions regarding America's future role in space.
-
- In an article published in 1978, David R. Smith, the
Disney archivist, reprinted the correspondence between Kimball and von
Braun.[29] He also published an account from Kimball which stated that
on the morning after "Man in Space" aired, Eisenhower called
Disney to compliment him on the show and to request a copy that could be
shown to top space-related officials in the Pentagon.[30] Although it is
difficult to verify Kimball's account, the story has gained increased attention
in recent years. For example, one historian has recently used it to illustrate
that, contrary to other viewpoints, Eisenhower was not "hostile to
the idea of space exploration or to science in general."[31]
-
- Eisenhower's personal response to the first Disney film
is open to debate. However, "Man in Space," apparently impressed
one high-level Soviet space official. This is indicated by a copy of a
September 24, 1955, letter from L. Sedov to F.C. Durant, President of the
International Astronautical Federation. "If the Disney Studios supplies
us with one copy of this film on whatever terms it may put, it will make
considerably for the cause of promoting our contact."[32] Erik Bergaust,
von Braun's biographer, called Sedov the "front man for Russian space
delegations during the Sputnik era." Bergaust also claims to have
introduced von Braun to Sedov in 1958. [33]
-
- Naturally, many leaders in the emerging American aerospace
industry endorsed the efforts that von Braun and Disney had made to promote
public interest in space exploration. In 1955, the American Rocket Society
held its largest-ever regional meeting in Los Angeles. As part of the entertainment
for the meeting, more than 600 persons were invited to tour Disneyland
and participate in a special screening of "Man in Space."[34]
-
- As indicated by von Braun's response to Kimball's plan
to relate the Eisenhower satellite announcement to the first Disney space
show, von Braun wanted to avoid any indication "that I myself through
the vehicle of the Disney Studio am trying to get credit for more than
I deserve." [35] Biographer Erik Bergaust has written that von Braun
understood the perils of going to the public for support of the space program:
"During the fifties, many people thought of von Braun as some sort
of science fiction hero who for the most part was dreaming of big space
conquests and who spent most of his time on Walt Disney television shows...
Some high priests of science were, of course, snobbish enough to frown
on all this loud glamour."[36] Another author has written that the
Walt Disney documentaries and the Collier's articles made von Braun a "space
nut" or a "space hero." [37] In 1958, one von Braun supporter
lamented "the discouraging spectacle of hard headed and reputable
scientists calling the latest proposal of Dr. Wernher von Braun to send
a man 150 miles into space a 'circus stunt.'"[38] Ernst Stuhlinger
acknowledges that von Braun was aware of being criticized for promoting
space outside of previously established circles. But he adds that von Braun's
desire to see man travel into space meant convincing scientists, industry,
politicians and, in particular, the public. "He fought on all fronts
each in its own language. That was his genius," Stuhlinger said.[39]
-
- In 1965, 10 years after "Man in Space" first
aired, von Braun invited Disney and others involved in the 1950s films
to tour the Marshall Space Flight Center.[40] Von Braun and his employees
clearly hoped that the reunion might rekindle Disney's enthusiasm for space
exploration. One Marshall official wrote, "Out of this we would at
least establish good will, and maybe (if we play our cards right) we could
get something going that would be of tremendous benefit to MSFC, Apollo,
NASA, and the entire space effort." [41] Von Braun himself wrote that
the Disney tour "may easily result in a Disney picture about manned
space flight." [42] On April 13, 1965, Walt Disney, his brother Roy,
and other Disney executives visited the Marshall Center.[43] In an interview
with The Huntsville Times, Disney said, "If I can help through my
TV shows... to wake people up to the fact that we've got to keep exploring,
I'll do it."[44] In reality, the tour at Marshall and other NASA sites
did not inspire
-
- Disney to use the 1950s television series as a model
for a new film about space exploration. No doubt, Wernher von Braun was
well qualified to imagine what the show and the future American space program
might have looked like if Disney had chosen to do so.
-
-
- Notes
-
- 1. Walter A. McDougall, ...the Heavens and the Earth:
A Political History of the Space Age (New York: Basic Books, 1985) p. 100.
-
- 2. Wernher von Braun and Frederick I. Ordway III, History
of Rocketry and Space Travel 3d revised ed. (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell
Company, 1975) p. 108.
-
- 3. Erik Bergaust, Wernher von Braun (Washington, D.
C.: National Space Institute, 1976) p. 161.
-
- 4. Randy Liebermann, "Wernher von Braun and Collier's
Magazine's Man in Space Series," 37th Congress of the International
Astronautical Federation, Innsbruck, Austria, October 4-11, 1986.
-
- 5. The Encyclopedia Americana, 1990 ed. s.v. Collier's",
s.v. "Television."
-
- 6. Adrian Perkins, "The 1950's, A Pivotal Decade,"
Spaceflight, July/August 1983, p. 323.
-
- 7. David R. Smith, "They're Following Our Script:
Walt Disney's Trip to Tomorrowland," Future, May 1978, p. 55. Mr.
Smith's article represents the best overall account of the three Disney
space-related films. Randy Liebermann also presents an excellent account
of the films in an essay entitled "The Collier's and Disney Series"
in Frederick I. Ordway III and Randy Liebermann eds. Blueprint for Space:
Science Fiction to Science Fact (Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution
Press, 1992) pp. 135-146.
-
- 8. Ibid.
-
- 9. Ibid.
-
- 10. The author is grateful to the Walt Disney Company
for the opportunity to borrow copies of all three Walt Disney films mentioned
in this paper. The material cited in this section of the paper is from
the film "Man in Space." Some of the material cited in latter
portions of the paper is from the film "Man and the Moon," and
from the film "Mars and Beyond."
-
- 11. "Man in Space."
-
- 12. Ibid.
-
- 13. Ernst Stuhlinger, oral history interview by Mike
Wright, December 17, 1992, Huntsville, Alabama.
-
- 14. "Man and the Moon."
-
- 15. J.P. Shanley, New York Times, December 29, 1955,
p. 41.
-
- 16. The material cited here is from a brochure describing
the Disney film, "Man and the Moon." The text was prepared by
the Division of Audio-Visual Education, Los Angeles County Schools.
-
- 17. This is from the film, "Man and the Moon.'
-
- 18. Smith, p. 60.
-
- 19. Stuhlinger Interview.
-
- 20. "Man and the Moon"
-
- 21. Ibid.
-
- 22. Ibid.
-
- 23. Willy Ley, Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel (New
York, The Viking Press, 1961), p. 331.
-
- 24. TV Guide, March 5,1955, p.9
-
- 25. Eugene M. Emme, ed., Aeronautics and Astronautics:
An American Chronology of Science and Technology in the Exploration of
Space, 1915-1960 (Washington, 1961), p.78.
-
- 26. Letter from Ward Kimball to Wernher von Braun, August
25, 1955, reprinted by Smith, p. 59.
-
- 27 Letter from Wernher von Braun to Ward Kimball, August
30, 1955, reprinted by Smith, p. 59.
-
- 28. Letter from Ward Kimball to Wernher von Braun, September
1, 1955, reprinted by Smith, p. 59.
-
- 29. Smith, p. 59.
-
- 30. Ibid.
-
- 31. Rip Bulkeley, The Sputniks Crisis and Early United
States Space Policy, A Critique of the Historiography of Space (Indiana
University Press, 1990), p. 128. It should be noted that the Office of
the Historian at the Pentagon as well as the archivists at the Eisenhower
Library were unable to locate documentation supporting Eisenhower's interest
in the Disney films.
-
- 32. Letter from L. Sedov to F.C. Durant, 24 September
1955.
-
- 33. Bergaust, p. 488.
-
- 34. John W. Herrick, "Los Angeles Meeting Attended
by Over 500," Jet Propulsion, Journal of the American Rocket Society,
March 1955, pp. 652-654.
-
- 35. Letter from von Braun to Kimball, August 30, 1955.
-
- 36. Bergaust, p. 488.
-
- 37. "The World Pays Tribute to Wernher von Braun,"
The National Space Institute. There is no date on this pamphlet. It was
prepared following von Braun's death.
-
- 38. I.M. Levitt, "Is von Braun's Plan a 'Circus
Stunt'?" Army Navy Air Force Register, May 10, 1958.
-
- 39. Stuhlinger Interview.
-
- 40. Letter from Wernher von Braun to William Bosche,
January 8, 1965. Mr. Bosche represented one of von Braun's key contacts
during his involvement in the three Disney films.
-
- 41. Note from Frank Williams to Bart Slattery, November
13, 1964. Mr. Williams was Director of Marshall's Future Projects Office
and a close associate of von Braun . Mr. Slattery was Director of the Public
Affairs Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
-
- 42. Note from Wernher von Braun to Bart Slattery. This
is a handwritten note initiated by von Braun and sent to "Bart."
It is dated "3/6," probably March 6, 1965.
-
- http://www.adventuresunlimited.co.nz
-
- _____
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- Mars Surface Anomaly Analysis Possible artifacts on Mars
http://www.mufor.org/ares/
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- The M-TRAC Project A private, unmanned mission to Mars
http://www.mufor.org/mtrac/
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