"Man in Space" and "Our Friend the Atom" initiate Series
THROUGH our country's need to develop future well-springs of scientific manpower, there has evolved an incentive to orient the nation's young people on acceptance of and enthusiasm for the scientific world in which they live. Junior and senior high school students are particularly significant targets. For it is at this age level that many of our youth make their first decisions on the major academic courses they will study, courses on which most further scientific specialization rests.
First Films of a Series
To interest this group as potential career-scientists, and at the same time to inform a curious public, Walt Disney Productions has produced and released two 16mm sound films in Technicolor: Man in Space and Our Friend the Atom.
Combining live action and cartoon animation, these films are the first two segments of Disney's Science-Factual film series. Man in Space, initial film in the series, deals with historical development of modem missiles, predicts establishment of a man-made satellite, and indicates the techniques by which man will make his first flight to outer space. Our Friend the Atom, second and most recent addition to the series, depicts the search made by man into concepts of atomic energy and illustrates possible peace-time applications of the atom.
Authorities Do the Narration
Man in Space runs 35 minutes. Its narrators are Dr. Heinz Haber, aviation medicine authority who describes problems and experiences to be encountered by man in space flight, and Dr. Wernher von Braun, renowned rocket engineer who discusses mechanics of man's first space flight and what is involved in putting a hypothetical space satellite 1075 miles above the earth.
Our Friend the Atom runs 50 minutes but is available in two parts of 25 minutes each, if desired. Narrated by Dr. Haber, the film humanizes the lives of science pioneers in atomic energy development. These portrayals are coupled with an animated sequence on the order of "The Fisherman and the Genie" of Arabian Nights to demonstrate the moral responsibilities and opportunities before man regarding use of the atom.
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