A Trip to the Moon is a 1902 French
silent film directed by
Georges Méliès. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including
Jules Verne's novels
From the Earth to the Moon and
Around the Moon, the film follows a group of astronomers who travel to the
Moon in a cannon-propelled capsule, explore the Moon's surface, escape from an underground group of Selenites (lunar inhabitants), and return to Earth with a captive Selenite. It features an
ensemble cast of French theatrical performers, led by Méliès himself in the main role of Professor Barbenfouillis, and is filmed in the overtly theatrical style for which Méliès became famous.