In early 1960, Ray Bradbury and George Clayton Johnson adapted Ray’s short story “Icarus Montgolfier Wright” into a screenplay for an animated short. Soon after a deal was struck with the animation studio Format Films to produce the film and Joseph Mugnaini was chosen to create all the artwork for the 18-minute film.
Joe created thousands of sketches for the film over two years. These sketches gave wing to the film’s storyboard and that storyboard drove [the more than 300] oil paintings Joe created for the film.
Ray’s story of the first manned flight to the moon is depicted with surprising accuracy seven years before the Apollo mission rocketed into history. Ross Martin and James Whitmore gave voice to a poetic journey punctuated by Mugnaini’s stunning visuals. Icarus Montgolfier Wright was an animated gem.
The unique nature of Icarus caught the attention of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and it was nominated for an Academy Award in 1962.
It didn’t win.
And then, slowly, it disappeared. Format Films folded, labs that held prints and negatives closed or changed ownership, the few prints in circulation became irreparably damaged or were lost.
Icarus vanished.
In 2008, I began an 18-month search for all remaining 16mm and 35mm elements. I coordinated the research with Ray Bradbury Enterprises, The Joseph Mugnaini Estate, The Klynn Family, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and the Library of Congress.
I recovered more than a dozen prints as well as a cache of production material. The prints suffered through the years; some showed complete dye fade while others were scratched and damaged from viewings.
The best candidates were scanned with both an Arriscan film scanner and a Spirit telecine. The soundtrack was extracted from the prints as well.
I preserved and digitally restored Icarus Montgolfier Wright, reintroducing it to a new generation of animation fans.