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Destination Moon (1950)

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• The Woody Woodpecker cartoon used in the movie was updated and then used by NASA to explain space travel to the public.
  
  
• The panoramic view of the lunar scenery was a Chesley Bonestell painting 13 feet long, mounted on wheels and rolled past a stationary camera. To make the stars appear brightly luminous, 534 holes were punched in the painting and illuminated from behind.
  
  
• This marked the first time that Grace Stafford (cartoon producer Walter Lantz's wife) did the voice of Woody Woodpecker.
  
  

• In order to make the space suits appear to be in a vacuum they were padded to make them seem inflated. The padding and the studio lights made the suits so hot the actors could wear them for only a few minutes at a time.
  
  
• The cracked surface of the moon is reminiscent of a dried lake bed. Bonestell knew this was scientifically inaccurate, but used it to give a sense of perspective to the lunar panorama.
  
  
• A massive campaign was undertaken to create public awareness of the film during its production. This campaign also attracted the attention of independent producer Robert L. Lippert who rushed a low budget space travel film, Rocketship X-M (1950), into production to capitalize on this campaign. Legal action forced Lippert to modify the campaign for his film. Material sent to exhibitors for "Rocketship X-M" carried the disclaimer "This is not 'Destination Moon'." Lippert was able to have "Rocketship X-M" into general release more than three weeks before this film had its preview engagements.
  
  

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