Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889–1977) is considered one of the first movie stars ever and made film history with his acting and his works. He is also one of the few artists who managed the transition from silent films to sound films.
Because of using archetypal imagery and symbols in his films, it is natural that the moon could also play a part somewhere. We found four references:
»The Lion King« from 1994, is one of the most successful animated movies, and just like in other works from the house of Walt Disney (»The Lady and the Tramp« and others), we are able to gaze at the full moon up in the sky in nightly scenes.
Particularly well-known is the image, where Simba dances across a tree trunk with his companions, which enables them to cross a large river in front of the backdrop of a gigantic full moon. This motif has also been used for various movie posters and can also be watched in the movie trailer:
The »sunfish« is called »moonfish« in many languages. It is the biggest and heaviest bony fish in the world, weighing up to 2,500 kg and showing off up to 3 m length and 4 m height! It can grow over 100 years old. Its Latin name »mola mola« derives from its shape, which reminds of a »millstone«, but apparently, also the Moon was the force behind the naming:
Everyone knows that the sun is much larger than the moon and much further away from earth. In this very context lies a fascinating fact: both celestial bodies appear to be of similar size on the firmament, when observed from earth. Which implies that the sun has to be as many times bigger than the moon, as it is further away from the earth than the moon from the earth …
Who doesn’t know this movie, a classic amongst romantic comedies? Shot in 1993, with Tom Hanks as the architect Sam Baldwin and Meg Ryan as the journalist Annie Reed, who do not know each other but are still able to find one another thanks to Sam’s son Jonah, who recognizes that Sam and Annie belong together and for that, he leaves no stone unturned.
On the movie poster, you can see the full moon, just above Meg Ryan and we watched this movie for the 137th time to find out whether the full moon is also visible during the movie – wrong! Neither in the scene where Sam talks to the psychologist on the radio for the first time, while Annie listens in the car, nor in the closing scene in New York, and on the Empire State Building we can see the moonlight shining, although this would have certainly been a gain. Also with reference to the title and the addressed topic of sleeplessness, this would have been an obvious approach.
Today is Friday 13th and we wanted to take a look at, whether it is considered lucky and what this has to do with the full moon. Interestingly enough, the interpretation of the number 13 has developed in various directions in different countries and cultures and you can find as many examples for bad luck, as much as the ones that promise good luck, albeit diverse interpretations exist.
Does the full moon have anything to do with our weather? Does the weather change at full moon or at new moon? Is there actually more or less rain and does the temperature therefore drop or rise? A few questions that everyone has surely heard of in one or the other form …
The American film studio DreamWorks SKG was founded by movie director Steven Spielberg, Disney head of animation Jeffrey Katzenberg and music producer David Geffen, in 1994 (the initials of the founders create the “SKG” in the company’s name). The opening credits of its movies, DreamWorks shows a boy, who sits on the waxing crescent moon while fishing and being surrounded by impressive cloud formations.
After we have already mentioned the lunate bone, one of the eight human carpal bones, which has been named after the Moon, due to its sickle shape, we would like to take another look at the human hand – this time at the fingernails. Lo and behold: here too, the name was inspired by the Moon. The white area of the nail, shaped like a half-moon is called »lunula« (lat. little moon) and incidentally, can be found on toenails as well. The lunula is differently pronounced with every human being, with some you may only see it on the thumb, with others you can see it on all fingers and toes.
In German we call the weeks after the wedding »Flitterwochen«, which has really no relevance to the moon. In many languages it is referred to as »honey moon«, which derives from »honey month« and therefore denotes a specific time with particular sweetness after the wedding. However, not always has the connection to the moon been interpreted positively, because one saw in the waning of the Moon the symbol of the decline of attraction that the happy couple would experience during the course of years after the wedding.
We are approaching a more sinister subject, the werewolf, a being that apparently changes from human into a wolf on the full moon. Everyone has heard about it or seen more or less plausible interpretations in movies. Where does this belief stem from? Why a wolf of all animals? And why in the full moon light?
The word »werewolf« contains, without difficulty to recognise, the »wolf« and the word »were« that translates into »man, human« and can be found in many languages, et al. Old Enlish, Germanic, Old High German and more. So we are talking about a man wolf or a wolfman, someone who can or must take the shape of a wolf. This belief has been widespread in the old days and this had nothing to do with the cliché we are getting to see in horror movies today.