Fly Me to the Moon

Take a look at the first moon landing from the point of view of a fly on the wall in the 3-D animated feature Fly Me to the Moon. Actually, from the point of view of three flies on the wall: Nat, IQ and Scooter, a trio of adventuresome young muscs domesticas who sneak aboard the NASA spaceship Apollo 11. Inspired by his grandpa (voiced by Christopher Lloyd), who had been a stowaway on one of Amelia Earhart’s flights, Nat lives by the motto, “If it ain’t an adventure, it ain’t worth doing.” He convinces his friends to join astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on their historic mission, and the fun begins. The trio has the full run of the spaceship — until the astronauts identify them as “contaminants,” and lock them up in a test tube. They eventually escape and go on to save the day when something goes haywire in the rocket’s engine (they shove a plug back in its socket — which is really, really hard for three little flies). Nat even tags along with Neil Armstrong for his first “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” walk on the moon.

Fly Me to the Moon, billed as the “first computer animated movie created for large-format 3D,” includes the voices of Kelly Ripa, Nicollette Sheridan, Tim Curry and real-life astronaut/hero Buzz Aldrin. After its premiere on Friday, August 22, Fly Me to the Moon screens daily. Houston Museum of Natural Science, Wortham IMAX Theater, One Hermann Circle Drive. For showtimes and information, call 713-639-4629 or visit www.hmns.org. $8 to $10.
Aug. 22-Nov. 6, 2008