00:00
/
00:00
Space Flight
Short Film (Full Length) – 1962
Galaxies away from images of tar-addled lungs on cigarette packets, this film offers an unusual public health message about smoking. Set to rhyming couplets, the plasticine hero tries out to see if he has the right stuff to fly a rocket to Venus. There he battles the demon Nicotine, and (long before Avatar’) convinces Venusians to destroy their tobacco trees. Shot in 35mm by pioneering animator Fred O’Neill, Space Flight was made for theatrical release. For reasons unknown the Health Department, who commissioned it, didn't want the film to go on general release.
Dive upward like inverted gannet / To settle on some other planet.– From the narration
Music
Music composed by David Farquhar and played by members of the National Orchestra (later renamed the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra)
Tags
Categories
More Information
If you liked this, you might also like...
The Animation Collection
From talking chickens to dancing Cossacks, feast on this...
Plastiphobia
Another Fred O'Neill animation
Gliding On - No Smoke Without Fire (First Episode)
The anti-smoking message didn't get through to 1981
Life On Ben - Series One Compilation
More animated health messaging
Dr Grordbort Presents: The Deadliest Game
More intergalactic animation
Havoc Luxury Suites & Conference Facility - Episode Six
An interview with an anti-smoking advocate from 2001
Night Sky - 10 Years of Night Sky
Actual space exploration
Old Man's Beard Must Go
A later unconventional PSA
Such a Stupid Way to Die
Another stupid way to die
The Elysian Bus
A contemporary public safety film
An Afternoon on the Moon
Another intergalactic trip
Decimal Currency Changeover
Another animation with a message
Disappear
More stop motion animation
Top Dance - 1982 Final
The Northern Ballet visit Venus
Asthma and Your Child
More animated breathing difficulty
Apple Pie
More cosmic tripping