RocketMan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids RocketMan
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stuart Gillard
Produced by	Roger Birnbaum
Written by	Oren Aviv Craig Mazin Greg Erb
Starring	Harland Williams Jessica Lundy William Sadler Jeffrey DeMunn Beau Bridges
Music by	Michael Tavera
Cinematography	Steven Poster
Editing by	William D. Gordean
Studio	Walt Disney Pictures Caravan Pictures Roger Birnbaum Productions
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date(s)	October 10, 1997 (1997-10-10)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$16 million
Money made	$15.4 million

RocketMan (sometimes called Rocket Man) is a funny science fiction movie from 1997. It was made by Walt Disney Pictures and Caravan Pictures. The film stars Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler, and Jeffrey DeMunn. It came out on October 10, 1997. The story is about a clumsy computer expert who accidentally gets to go on the first human mission to Mars!

The Story of RocketMan

Getting Ready for Mars

NASA is preparing for a huge event: the very first human mission to Mars. Their spacecraft is called Aries. There's a problem with the computer system that guides the ship. So, NASA needs to find the person who wrote the computer program. They want to understand why it seems to be broken.

Fred Z. Randall, played by Harland Williams, is the quirky computer programmer who created the software. He meets important people at NASA. These include Paul Wick (Jeffrey DeMunn), who is in charge of the Mars mission. He also meets William "Wild Bill" Overbeck (William Sadler), the mission commander. And there's Gary Hackman (Peter Onorati), the computer expert on the team.

Fred looks at the software and quickly finds the real problem. It's not a glitch in his program. Instead, Gary made a math mistake! Gary is very stubborn and doesn't want to admit his error. Then, a model of the Mars lander accidentally hits Gary on the head. He gets a skull injury.

NASA decides they need to replace Gary instead of delaying the mission. They bring Fred in to see if he has what it takes to be an astronaut. Fred goes through many tough training exercises. Surprisingly, he does very well! He even breaks all the records set by Commander Bill. In the end, Fred gets the job to go to Mars.

The Journey Begins

As Fred gets ready to board the Aries spacecraft, he gets scared. He almost refuses to go on the mission. Bud Nesbitt (Beau Bridges), a wise old astronaut, talks to Fred. Bud tells him about three special coins given to him by President Lyndon B. Johnson. One coin went to Neil Armstrong, the first person on the Moon. Another went to Jim Lovell, a famous astronaut. Bud then shows Fred a gold coin that says "Bravery."

Bud tells Fred, "It hasn't done me much good." He adds, "Maybe it'll mean something to you one day." This inspires Fred. He then quotes the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz: "If I were king of the forest!" This shows Fred's new courage.

Fred is now part of the crew. The team includes Commander Overbeck, geologist Julie Ford (Jessica Lundy), and Ulysses, a smart chimpanzee. Their mission is to look for fossils on Mars. To save resources during the long trip, the crew goes into "hypersleep" for eight months. This means they sleep for a very long time while the ship travels to Mars.

But Ulysses the chimpanzee has other plans! He purposely takes Fred's hypersleep chamber for himself. This forces Fred to sleep in Ulysses' tiny chimp-sized chamber. Fred only sleeps for 13 minutes! He has to stay awake alone for the entire eight-month journey.

Danger on Mars

While awake, Fred looks at Mars weather data. He notices severe sandstorms that could be dangerous for the crew. He contacts Bud back in Houston to warn him. Fred explains that the storms are predicted to hit their landing site. If the crew gets caught in them, they could be lost forever. Bud tells Paul Wick about the danger, but Wick ignores the warning.

The crew finally reaches Mars. Commander Overbeck is annoyed with Fred for being awake the whole time. Fred also ate almost all the food, except for the foods Overbeck hates (like anchovy paste and creamed liver). They land their ship, the Pilgrim, on the Martian surface. Overbeck is about to be the first human to step on Mars. But Fred slips from the ladder and accidentally lands first!

A day after the crew lands, the sandstorms arrive earlier than expected. Overbeck and Ulysses almost get lost in the storm. The crew quickly lifts off from the Martian surface. Back on Earth, Paul Wick is replaced by Bud Nesbitt. It becomes clear that Wick doesn't trust his NASA team.

The ship is almost out of the sandstorm when rocks hit the lander. The Pilgrim loses power and starts spinning out of control. Fred has to rewire the entire system, restart it, and get everything working again. He has less than two minutes! With only 20 seconds left, he needs to complete the circuit. Fred frantically searches for something to connect the wires. He finally shoves the special "Bravery" coin into the slot. This allows the lander to regain power!

The crew safely returns to the Aries ship orbiting Mars. Fred asks Julie to dance with him in zero gravity. They dance to the song "When You Wish Upon a Star" while Fred wears a silver tuxedo and Julie wears a gold dress. Fred made their fancy clothes from space blankets he cut up during his long, lonely journey.

The Trip Home

As Fred gets ready for hypersleep one last time for the trip home, Ulysses climbs into his chamber again! This means Fred has to stay awake for another eight months on the journey back to Earth.

After the movie credits, there's a funny extra scene. The crew's flag pole on Mars is shown, but the flag is missing. It turns out that Fred's American flag boxers, which he used as a replacement flag, have been stolen. A Martian is shown wearing them!

Meet the Cast

Here are the main actors and the characters they play in RocketMan:

• Harland Williams as Fred Z. Randall
• Jessica Lundy as Julie Ford
• William Sadler as William Overbeck
• Jeffrey DeMunn as Paul Wick
• James Pickens, Jr. as Ben Stevens
• Beau Bridges as Bud Nesbitt
• Peter Onorati as Gary Hackman
• Don Lake as Flight Surgeon
• Blake Nelson Boyd as Gordon A. Peacock