Destination Earth

DESTINATION EARTH (1956, sound, 14 min, color, 35mm)

Sponsor: Oil Industry Information Committee, American Petroleum Institute. Production Cos.: John Sutherland Productions; Film Counselors Inc. Director: Carl Urbano. Writers: Bill Scott, Michel Amestoy, George Gordon. Production Designers: Tom Oreb, Vic Haboush. Animation: George Cannata, Ken O’Brien, Bill Higgins, Tom Ray, Russ von Neida. Resources: Copyright not registered. Holdings: LC/Prelinger, MacDonald.

Science-fiction-influenced cartoon sponsored by petroleum producers to lionize their industry and promote free enterprise. “Colonel Cosmic,” an astronaut from the totalitarian planet Mars, flies to Earth, where he discovers cheap oil and the market economy. Returning home, he leads a revolution and frees Martian entrepreneurs to begin oil exploration, start small businesses, and lead the planet out of economic stagnation. note: Destination Earth played at New York’s Paramount Theatre and was later broadcast and distributed nontheatrically. Produced in Technicolor and released in 35mm and 16mm.