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:
You always hear that certain things should be done or left undone at certain phases of the lunar cycle, also during a full moon. You can believe it or not. It surely cannot be proven and to be honest, we are quite skeptical with regards to the attribution of human activities and lunar events. However, we would not like to exclude it – after all neither the efficacy nor the inefficacy of such theses has been proven. As long as you don’t get caught in your own convictions, it is part of people’s liberty to create their lives freely.
»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:
When the German author Michael Ende wrote »The Neverending Story« from 1977 to 1979, he created a milestone amongst the fantasy children and youth literature. The story about the shy boy Bastian Balthasar Bux on his adventure trip through the world of Fantastica, fascinated millions of readers of all age groups and has been translated into 40 languages up to date.
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:
Bathing during the full moon or in the full moon light, is a fascinating experience, which one or the other has surely made. Two ways to interpret this is either bathing in the water at the full moon (outdoors or in the bath tub), or bathing directly in the moonlight (when the light of the Moon shines onto your skin, just like sunbathing).
“Lady and the Tramp” made in 1955, belongs to one of the most beautiful and most successful cartoons by Walt Disney. The story of the elegant female dog Lady and the fun-loving vagabond Tramp, shows how love can overcome social boundaries. In reality, this is of course a human issue and not one of our four-legged friends. However – as usual with Disney – it has been staged simply convincingly. And this is how a good acquaintance joins Lady and the Tramp in the nightly scenery: the full moon.
… this line from the poem “Evening Song” from 1778, by the poet Matthias Claudius (1740–1815), belongs to the best-known poems in German literature, not least of all because it was set to music many times; hence, it does not only remain in one’s memory because of its lyrics, but also because of its melody. Especially as a lullaby, everyone has surely heard it before or even sang it to the children:
»Moon Wood« (aka »lunar cycle wood«) is the name for the wood of trees, which are felled during a specific time of the lunar cycle, and are therefore attributed with better traits, with regard to quality, stability, durability, and resistance against pest etc. Just like with many other moon related traditions, there is currently very little proof of the actual influence of the Moon. Still, many people have faith in this special effect and are prepared to pay up to 30% more for moon wood. The use is popular from buildings through to musical instruments.
Even though the title of this article may suggest it, the following is not about James Bond, the famous secret agent of Her Majesty, but about another legend, which supposedly happened in Wiltshire in southern England.
A gang of alcohol smugglers tried to hide barrels in a pond of a village from the eyes of the official custom officers. When they were caught by them one night at the shore and were asked to explain themselves, the smugglers tried to rake the surface of the water in order to make the view onto the barrels more difficult. They then claimed that they were trying to fish a round cheese out of the pond and pointed at the reflection of the full moon in the water. The officers thought them to be insane and simply granted them to continue as pleased.
The film is based on the book of the same title by Cressida Cowell (2003), was released in 2010 in movie theaters and became one of the most successful animations and earned nearly $500 million. Next to its impressive technical quality of the animation, it is most of all about the story of Hickup, a son of a Viking, who flies directly into the hearts of the audience, with his ability to tame dragons, which was a hostile skill to have up until then.