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This film is part of Free

To Our Children's Children's Children

This is one small step for The Moody Blues… It may not have led to any giant leaps, but it’s a fun cartoon take on British space exploration

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1969 7 mins

Overview

Although apparently intended for your great-grandkids, I am sure you will enjoy this as well. Five albums in and prog rock pioneers The Moody Blues were heading into outer space, inspired by the moon landings of 1968. The album’s opening track “Higher and Higher” forms the backbone of this proto-music video, offering a (ironically) down to earth approach to space travel.

The film was produced by Halas & Batchelor, who fabricated the entire solar system through rostrum camera trickery. 2001 it isn’t, but they were likely more reliant on their brains than any significant budget. The Moodies appear at the beginning of the film, but John Halas re-released the cartoon sequences as “Skyrider” in 1976, minus the band, the ubiquitous random blonde model, and with a new soundtrack.