List of Planetariums
| Home |
Links |
List of Observatories
|
Guestbook
| Gigantor
| DVD
Baby-boomers flashback to the year 1958...
Click the Polaris rocket image below to view a classic scene
Watch the Polaris
rocket leaving Earth
All Images and Multimedia are
Courtesy of Radio & Television Packagers, Inc. ©
If
images are not visible, you can
download the latest version
of Adobe Flash Player free
All Images and Multimedia are Courtesy of Radio
& Television Packagers, Inc. ©
Watch
Video Trailers Above
All Images and Multimedia are Courtesy of Radio
& Television Packagers, Inc. ©
In the early years of space exploration, man's dream was to land a rocket ship on the Planet Mars. Following the scientific philosophies, teachings, and principles of Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, and Albert Einstein, countries like Russia, Germany, and the United States were feverishly working (often secretly) to achieve the goal of landing there.
In the late 1950's, with the support of The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Hayden Planetarium in New York, the animated space cartoon series "THE SPACE EXPLORERS" fascinated the imagination, and further inspired this dream in the minds of American children. It's no surprise that some of those same children, now adults, did in fact make space-related occupational career choices.
On the heels of the Russians successful launch of the Sputnik satellite, Dr. Franklyn M. Branley (deceased, lecturer, and Professor Emeritus at The Hayden Planetarium in New York) predicted that Man would reach Mars in 1978 (hence, that date being used in the opening credits shown below).
William Cayton and Fred Ladd started work on THE SPACE EXPLORERS animated "feature" film cartoon in 1957. According to Fred Ladd, "Bill Cayton fulfilled the role of Producer, while I was responsible for the actual job of editing all the footage into a coherent whole, writing the script, casting & recording the voices, directing and delivering the finished production."
Working with Ladd, Dr. Branley supervised the film content to ensure the accuracy of space-related details of the production. Shortly after completing the initial rough-cut, Ladd went on vacation to New England, and in his own words, "Just my luckthe Russians put up Sputnik!" On October 4, 1957, the Russians launched "Sputnik" (see article). Ladd returned to New York and rushed to complete the film.
"THE SPACE EXPLORERS film sold like hotcakes!" said Ladd. Given the feverish pitch, Cayton and Ladd rushed production on a second one-hour sequel, The New Adventures of the Space Explorers. The same basic formula was used, but with different space sequences. In 1958, both films were cut into six-minute "serialized" episode segments and were syndicated to local children's programs across the US leaving a powerful positive impact on the children as revealed by many of the Guestbook Comments.
According to Ladd, "The films were initially made as 'features.' The feature films were then re-edited into 6-minute series. That's because TV stations needed 6-minute episodes to integrate into their live kid-shows. The series were licensed to independent (non-network) stations, generally for 3 year terms."
Writer and researcher Kevin S. Butler recalls that "The Space Explorers" series aired between 1958 and 1962 on television shows such as, "Terrytunes Circus"/"Merrytoones Circus" with Claude Kirchner and "Clownie", "The Space Explorers Club" with Al Hodge of the Dumont Network), and "Space Station Nine" with Chubby Jackson. Trivia collector's will want to know that the very first television airing of The Space Explorers feature film was shown in 1958 by Claude Kirchner on WOR-TV, Channel 9, in New York.
Entries in the guestbook reveal baby-boomers remember watching the old space cartoon on:
When asked about the colorization technique used, Ladd responded, "...regarding color, both 'Explorers' pictures are in color. The animation of Commander Perry, his son Jimmy, the Professor, and Smitty was in full color as was "Universe" (or Univers as printed on the original reel) and all the other "educational footage." The 1937 German film was actually black-and-white; and so I tinted it blue. For the Mars sequence, blue was wrong, so I tinted it red and ran it as a NEGATIVE (that made the white clouds BLACK -- white clouds are found only on Earth)."
"That school of production editing together unrelated animation into completely new productionswould lead to my independent production later of The Big World of Little Adam TV series made in cooperation with the United States Air Force...and Pinocchio In Outer Space (feature-length, animated from scratch) wherein Pinocchio lands on Mars and discovers everything NASA is now discovering there today. That, in a nutshell, is how it happened" said Ladd.
All Images and Multimedia are Courtesy of Radio & Television Packagers, Inc. © |
Cast of Characters:
|
|
|
Cliff "Ray" Owens |
Kerry Mark Joels |
Francine "Sonia" Owens |
HOVER YOUR MOUSE OVER SELECTED ORIGINAL IMAGES THROUGHOUT THE WEBSITE AND
CLICK THEM TO VIEW SHORT MULTIMEDIA CLIPS
To save our servers bandwidth, additional short rare video clips
of both Space Explorers versions can now be found
on both YouTube
Google and
AOL
Sound Effects History:
The sound effects score is what sets The
Space Explorers films apart from the original two source films.
.
According to Fred Ladd, "The sound
effects
were created by two very
bright guys -Barney Beck and Al (Alfred) Schaffer who were working at radio station WOR-TV, New York, doing sound effects for radio dramas.
Barney & Al later created all the sound effects for "Pinocchio In Outer Space"
--really talented guys! The Music Editor was (the late) Danny Hart, who scored
'Explorers' entirely from library music; and 'Pinocchio' *largely* from some of
the same music libraries.
Beck and Schaffer also did the sound effects from the old radio show "The Shadow"
which aired from 1937 - 1954. (Note: The webmaster very much appreciates additional useful
information such as the entries contributed in the
guestbook.)
Plot - The Space Explorers (1958):
The opening title screen of the vintage space
cartoon is displayed
All Images and Multimedia are Courtesy of Radio
& Television Packagers, Inc. ©
in very large block letters with a cosmic background scene perspective that makes them appear to be several building stories high. The opening credits set the story in 1978, and show a clever mixture of German and Russian film footage depicting the horizontal rail launch of the 'Polaris-I' spacecraft. It is learned on the news that evening that Commander Perry had a steering malfunction aboard the first "Polaris-1" expedition to Mars and has disappeared and communication has been lost. The rescue mission is set to launch at midnight and Perry's son Jimmy sneaks onboard by stowing away in a shipping crate loaded onto an identical rocket rescue ship named "Polaris-II" piloted by "Professor Leon Nordheim". A very unique aspect of the launch, is the fact that the Polaris spaceships in these films take-off horizontally (as opposed to vertically) from parallel rails. After the rescue ship "Polaris-II" blasts off for Mars, Professor Nordheim and "Smitty", the female assistant and navigator hear a strange noise and discover him asleep in the crate onboard.
All Images and Multimedia are Courtesy of Radio
& Television Packagers, Inc. ©
This backdrop sets the stage for the remainder of the series. Under the supervision of Professor Nordheim, the trio travel through space sitting in the gigantic front glass cockpit area of the rocket, peering out through a large forward observation window. As the ship travels through space, the sound-effects are captivating and viewers enjoy a mysterious echoing "bleeping" sound and see a blinking red light from the onboard "Iridium detector" that is uniquely one-of-a-kind. From the added educational footage, they explore and learn all about the approaching stars, planets, moons of Mars ("Phobos" and "Deimos" are specifically mentioned) and asteroids they see approaching out the large front and side windows.
A large amount of
space exploration educational footage was cleverly combined into the
American version of the "New Adventures of the
Space Explorers." Jimmy learns a new aspect of
space astronomy moment by moment, including some of Albert Einstein's theories
being illustrated using footage from an old Soviet (now Russia) film entitled "Universe." Near the end of their journey, when the rescue-ship Polaris-II lands
on the Moon, Commander Perry (Jimmy's father) is unexpectedly discovered
there alive along with an intact Polaris-I which has run out of fuel. It
turns out that Commander Perry was never able to land on Mars, because a
mechanical steering problem causes him to overshoot it, and instead he runs out
of fuel on the moon during his journey back to Earth.
Spoiler: The concluding episode features a refueled
Polaris-I and the Polaris-II re-entering Earth's atmosphere together and successfully
landing back on Earth. The first to learn the good news, an aged astronomer and
crony of Professor Nordheim named "Jenkins" attempts to call Jimmy's mother,
but when Jimmy's neighborhood friend (not his "sister" as is often documented)
Nancy answers the phone instead, and Jenkins announces that they've all come home
safely. Hearing the good news, Nancy calls out the good news to her dog
"Spotty" first, and then to Jimmy's mother Mrs. Perry (who's always
off-screen). A short time later they are all together eating and sharing stories of
the great space adventure, when Mrs. Perry proclaims "OK now, no more space talk
until after dinner!" and that's how "The Space Explorers" 1958 series
version ends.
Plot - New Adventures of the Space Explorers (1959):
The opening title screen
of the second series (1959) of the space cartoon is displayed...
YouTube.com - Intro credits
of "New
Adventures of the Space Explorers"
The amount of space exploration educational footage was expanded even further in the second series sequel. Professor Nordheim tricks an unwitting "Jimmy" to accompany himself and Smitty to locate and recover a damaged space laboratory platform. In the 1:39 hour long version of "New Adventures of The Space Explorers" Jimmy and Professor Nordheim recount their adventures of searching for, and saving Jimmy's astronaut father Commander Neil Perry.
The second version goes into much greater teaching details than the first about satellites, radiation, magnetism, gravity, radar, orbits, space stations, Isaac Newton, Einstein, Galileo, solar systems, milky way, galaxies, stars, asteroids, comets, NASA, propulsion, X-15, and much more. A entirely different set of rockets was added to the second series. The memorable Polaris-2 ramp (rail) launch sequence is shown again. To American baby-boomers growing up in the mid 1950's, the English narration and music score is more memorable than either of the original source films.
|
All Images and Multimedia are Courtesy of Radio & Television Packagers, Inc. ©
The visuals of
outer-space approaching from behind the Polaris large glass cockpit window
are what many will recall as being most memorable. For others it may be the blinking light
of Professor Nordheim's "Iridium Detector", or its synchronized
"bleep" sound that seemed to echo all over space. There are numerous
star-lit views of traveling through space visible in the large transparent nose of the
Polaris-II. There are also many views of various planet terrain as the Polaris
spaceship flies over. The Hayden Planetarium's 1950's model Wall-Projector was used to
enhance realism in the backdrop of the closing credits. The star projector in use today
is the German Zeiss
Mark IX Star-Projector.
All Images and Multimedia
are Courtesy of Radio
& Television Packagers, Inc. ©
These films and syndicated series captured the hearts and
minds of children, who watched in amazement as new concepts were taught. It is amazing
that the animated series so closely depicted what the recent NASA Mars Rover discovered there. Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, along with the work of Bill Cayton
and Fred Ladd further inspired existing shows such as Space Patrol (Buzz Corry), Space
Cadet (Tom Corbett), and later cartoons like Space Ghost, Space Angel, Johnny Quest, and
countless others. The most recent sightings of the Polaris spaceship are in the very beginning of Chapter 5 of NOVA's Public Television (PBS) production of "The Elegant Universe - Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory" available on DVD. It has also been seen on
the Saturday Night Live skit with Mike Myers as "Dieter,"
and in the July/September 2004 FILMFAX Magazine (Edition #103).
A model of the Polaris rocket
is available!
Other animation work by Fred Laderman: In 1961,
"THE UNDERSEAS EXPLORERS"
The Reviews:
Award-winning producer of films and video
programs says, "I was five years old when it first hit the air, and I totally
loved it." ...Ray Pointer, Inkwell Images Inc. |
The Space Explorers - 02/24/2004
|
Harvey Deneroff's Article |
Franklyn Branley of the Hayden |
"A great job of presenting factual documentation on 'The Space Explorers' series - a beloved, memorable and long neglected SCI-fi 'infotainment' that inspired the baby boomer generation." ...Jerry Beck, CartoonResearch.com |
"Checkout the July 2004
Edition (#103) of FILMFAX Magazine for
the article on Fred Ladd and The Space Explorers" Mike Stein... FILMFAX |
Credits:
North American Aviation, Inc.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)
United States Air Force - Ballistic Missile Division (USAF)
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation - Missiles and Space Division
Radio Propagation Laboratory - Stanford University
Convair Division - General Dynamics Corporation
James A. Van Allen
Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, Inc.
Scientific American Magazine
Website Sources and Credits: The vast majority of information on this website was provided to the webmaster directly by the son of the late William Cayton and Mr. Fred Ladd himself. The original master films were thought to be lost, but were recently re-discovered after more than fifty years. Only 12 years old at the time, the original voice actor "Kerry Mark Joels", who played "Jimmy", has also contacted the webmaster to provide input. He is now Dr. Joels, who was Curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air & Space Museum, served as consultant to The White House, was technical script consultant for the James Bond film "Moonraker," co-author of the Space Shuttle Operator's Manual, and worked with NASA on Project SkyLab to name a few. With the contributions of the late Bill Cayton's son, Fred Ladd, and Dr. Joels direct input, this is now considered to be the most authoritative website related to The Space Explorers animated 'Feature' films on the Internet.
Thanks in advance: To Jerry Beck for researching the series on his Cartoon Research website. To Mark Wade for his Astronautix website which served to inspire additional research for The Space Explorers website. To Mike Simmons of the Mount Wilson Observatory for some technical corrections. To Forrest Patton for his detailed information on the musical film scores used in The Space Explorers. To Kevin S. Butler for researching and correcting the dates, channel details and station call-signs of the baby boomer TV shows that aired the series. Appreciation to Claude Mettavant from France for his correctly sourcing the Russian animated film.
Other references: The Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com), The Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, The Library of Congress, The Hayden Planetarium, and NOVA's "The Elegant Universe". Mike Stein, Editor of Filmfax Magazine.
Source films:
1937 B&W German film
Weltraumschiff I Startet
(Spaceship 1 Launches)
1953 Russian film entitled
Polet na Lunu
(Flight to the Moon),
by Soyuzmultfilm
If this
cartoon affected your career choices, click here
The Space
Explorers and The New Adventures of the Space Explorers
by CARTOON CLASSICS are © Copyrighted by Radio &
Television Packagers, Inc.
All original images and multimedia sound clips are courtesy of Radio &
Television Packagers, Inc.
and may not
be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of
Radio and Television Packagers Inc.
Animatoons™ is a trademark of Radio & Television Packagers, Inc.
TheSpaceExplorers.com is a non-profit website, devoted to the fans of The
Space Explorers and other animated features. |
Website
Design © 2004 TheSpaceExplorers.com
All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Support ASIFA Film
Preservation
Watch
"The Universe" series on The History Channel by Flight 33 Productions, LLC