To Fly!

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To Fly!
An American hot-air balloon flying alongside a hang-glider and rocket, above a forested rocky landscape. The film's tagline is "Go where dreams have wings."
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGreg MacGillivray
Jim Freeman
Written byGreg MacGillivray
Jim Freeman
Thomas McGrath
Francis Thompson
Robert M. Young
Arthur Zegart
Produced byGreg MacGillivray
Jim Freeman
StarringEllen Bry
Narrated byThomas McGrath
CinematographyBrad Ohlund
Edited byAlexander Hammid
Music byBernardo Segall
Production
company
Distributed byNational Air and Space Museum
Release date
  • July 1, 1976 (1976-07-01)
Running time
27 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$590,000
Box officeUS$120,700,700[1]

To Fly![a] is a 1976 short docufiction film by Jim Freeman and Greg MacGillivray, made specifically for screening at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) IMAX theater's premiere, though later screened at other theaters. The film chronicles the history of aviation while depicting the beauty of it through visuals and narration, as well as the voyage of a fictional hot-air-balloon pioneer. The visuals depict a westward travelogue around the United States (Vermont to Hawaii), then jumps eastward to witness spaceflight.

Though over a year in the making and prompted the production of three new IMAX cameras, it had a relatively low budget. The film's script is an expansion of a treatment given by the Smithsonian and film sponsor Francis Thompson, Inc.; expansions include utilizing humor in the opening scene, to tell audiences that the film is not littered with technical jargon. Its cinematography was given deep preparation due to its IMAX format, which require various filmmaking rules in order to have immersion in full effect. Post-production included editing, visual effects, and composing the score. The former was also affected the same way as the cinematography.

To Fly! was released on July 1, 1976, as part of the United States Bicentennial. It was initially meant to only be screened for a year at NASM, however public outcry prompted lifetime screening. Though not the first film in such format, it was deemed significant in IMAX history for introducing a vast audience to the then-new format, and its influence was acknowledged by IMAX filmmakers alike. Amassing a large following and notable in its role to the growing popularity of museum theaters, particularly in the IMAX format, it remained the highest-grossing documentary for a long period of time and broke various other records. The film received universal acclaim from reviews for its narrative, cinematography, music, and editing, although modern reviews found themselves slightly more critical.

Summary[]

To Fly! runs 27 minutes. It begins in July 4, 1831, Craftsbury, Vermont, where fictional hot-air balloon pioneer Ezekiel ascends. Prior, he reads a self-made quatrain: "Until today, what birds alone were meant to take the sky / But now, because of men like me, all men of Earth shall fly / Beyond the clouds, twixt thunder and the Sun! / Today, a new age has begun." People below look at the balloon in awe and surprise. Ezekiel sees a boater heading for the lethal Niagara Falls[2] and warns him; he immediately obliged.

First narration [sic]

"So long... as men can breath or eyes can see,
so long lives this... and this is life to be."

Aviation began by ballooning. The film's narration says that the view exclusively viewable by flight is "like the opening of a new eye": allowing humans to see the Earth in a never-before-seen lens. The Wright Flyer was later invented; unlike the balloon, there are more controls. This is further broadened during the Roaring Twenties, with barnstorming, cited to further access to aviation among Americans. However flying for faster travel was still long way, and transportation still merely consists of horses, trains, and cars. This was until civil aviation was invented, followed by military, which then formed the Blue Angels. The speed of airplanes increases as time flies, peaking at the invention of the Boeing 747. As the film depicts ultralight aviation, the film's narration says "We first flew in dreams, and [it] has [come true]. We have extended our limits and seen our world from a new angle, in a way that would once seem godlike."

To Fly! ends with spaceflight, showcasing the launch of the Saturn IB[3] in the Apollo–Soyuz mission.[4] After dubbing this a feat in humanity, the narration suggests that spaceflight can be used to discover the existence of extraterrestrial life. Accompanied by a view of Earth, it ends with: "We have come a long way from a time when people gazed enviously upon the birds in-flight. Today, we look upon our planet from afar, and feel a new tenderness for the tiny and fragile Earth. For we know now that, even as we walk upon the ground, we are ever in-flight through the universe. And so, we begin to realize that human destiny has ever been, and always must be, to fly!"

Production[]

Development and writing[]

In 1974, the Smithsonian Institution contacted filmmakers Jim Freeman and Greg MacGillivray, stating that they are planning to build an IMAX theater at their National Air and Space Museum (NASM), Washington, D.C., and asking if they were interested in making a film to be played in its opening day. The duo assumed the Smithsonian knew them from the 1973 Jonathan Livingston Seagull, whom they co-filmed and received an Academy Award for Best Cinematography nomination; as well as from The Towering Inferno, which featured aerial cinematography and became a box-office success. Then-director of the museum, astronaut Michael Collins, told MacGillivray that he did not want the film to be too history-oriented: "I have plenty of historical plaques on the wall of my museum; please give me a film that entertains, and allows the audience to be amazed by flight."[5] He and deputy director Melvin B. Zisfein also gave a list of suggestions; MacGillivray and Freeman then used 20 of those suggestions.[6] With the To Fly! project commencing, it becomes the duo's introduction to the IMAX format.[2]

The Smithsonian and consultant company Francis Thompson, Inc. offered them a film treatment, but they deemed it not perfect enough; they instead expanded it into "a chronological story that contained humor, comical fictitious characters, and [...] a little bit of flight history." They also took some inspiration from their previous surfing films. The opening scene was made humorous so that audiences "didn't have to take notes. They could sit back and relax and laugh all the way through the film. Even though this movie was projected inside the hallowed halls of the Smithsonian [...], we were creating a fun film, not a dry, historical drama."[5] Credited writers include Thomas McGrath, Francis Thompson, Robert M. Young and Arthur Zegart.[7] Researching was also done throughout pre-production; it overall took around seven months.[8] Freeman's girlfriend Cindy Huston is the camera assistant; MacGillivray's girlfiend Barbara Smith is the production assistant, craft service specialist, still photographer and behind the scenes cinematographer; Bill Bennett and Jeff Blyth are the production managers; Brad Ohlund is the second assistant camera, and Phil Schwartz is the first.[5]

Filming[]

MacGillivray is director, while Freeman filmed.[3] The former stated he chose the IMAX format in order to "allow myself as a filmmaker to impact the audience in a greater way", one unachievable in other formats.[8] During filming, there was only one IMAX camera; they were worried of damaging it, and Freeman proposed to Graeme Ferguson, Bill Shaw, and Robert Kerr "to produce three new cameras with a list of improvements based on our experience owning and operating various other cameras." This was later granted by IMAX Corporation, and they used all three of them for principal photography, which occurred for a period of 20 weeks (a year and a half) across various American locations[5] in early 1975. They worked extensively: seven days a week and 14 hours a day.[9] The two-camera system was also to minimize the need for retaking should the crew wanted to do so.[3] Their budget, US$590,000, was considered relatively small, but did not disturb the production in any way. The low budget prompted a storyboard; using that and the script, he and Freeman made various ways (self-coined "IMAX moments") to thrill the IMAX audiences and to rely on visuals more instead of narration. One of the ways is by having an 1890 steam locomotive, moving very close to the screen. That specific scene was shot "by putting a mirror on the track, and shooting with two cameras into that mirror, as the train roared down the tracks and it plowed into the mirror, breaking it into a million pieces." Multi-screen images—the act of placing duplicates of images in the same screen— were occassionally done.[5][6] Each scene was planned to fit with the IMAX format. The colored parts of the storyboard were then presented to clients to avoid miscommunications post-filming.[3]

The majority of the shots in the film took a long time to make: for example, the 35-second shot of the Blue Angels over Arizona took over four months to assemble, with extensive preparation for the pilots to perform the conceptualized maneuver. Thus, MacGillivray described most of the filming process as time-consuming.[8] Aerial work platforms were used to support the balloon basket, as well as the camera.[3] With help by Nelson Tyler, the team developed two helicopter mounts that allow smooth aerial shots. Mounts were also made for the 747 as well as on a monoplane piloted by Art Scholl.[5] Bob Wills also flew a hang-glider at the Hawaiian coastline in the film;[3] this was among the suggestion list by Collins and Zisfein.[6]

Because of its immersive IMAX format, an entire novel set of filming rules were abided, and many conventional rules were "temporarily set aside." Condensed movement was used to switch between an extreme long shot to medium close-up, and a wide-angle lens was used to further expand the film's view. According to MacGillivray, "Because the audience sits lower in relation to the screen in an IMAX theatre, the new center lies approximately one-third up from the bottom of the screen. Therefore, all scenes need to be framed with this in mind, but particularly the closeup. Plenty of headroom is needed in all closeups (in IMAX, the medium closeup) so the audience can establish comfortable eye-contact."[3] The filmmakers wanted a bright, colorful, naturalistic film, prompting them to use the 65mm film stock 5254, and merely use a standard 85 filter. To have a dramatic look, they used cross-back light or cross light. Because of this, an "increased sense of depth, dimensionality and a greater sense of movement" was achieved. Various lenses, including a fisheye, were used. For example, the scene with a vertical view of New York City used a 30mm lens in order to give an edge curvature and image distortion. For lenses specifically built for Hasselblad cameras, shutters were removed and the mounts were modified in order to fit in the IMAX cameras. Because of the heavy nature of the cameras, a larger-than-normal, O'Connor 150 tripod head was used. According to MacGillivray, "Because the camera utilizes a split-beam type of reflex system, which absorbs approximately one half of the light coming through the lens, the exposure had to be increased by one F-stop."[3]

Other filming locations include Kauai and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.[4]

Post-production[]

An American hot-air balloon ascends from a countryside to a clear sky.
This shot, following a land-centric sequence, is the first in To Fly! to fully utilize the IMAX screen, in order to give dramatic depth to its narrative.

Alexander Hammid edited the film.[7] An IMAX-specific rule used during the editing process is keeping pacing normal, so that audiences have enough time to explore the entirety of the shots.[3] Because To Fly! contains themes of "a new way of seeing" and "how [...] Americans have come to have a fresh perspective [...] from our various stages in casting off gravity's tight bonds", the filmmakers stated that IMAX is the perfect format, considering it is also a brand-new product. In the opening, the part where Ezekiel is still at land merely uses 1⁄6th of the IMAX surface; as he ascends, all of the screen is utilized; this is to give a dramatic sense to the film, as well as a reference to aviation, which the film calls "like the opening of a new eye."[3]

The film score was composed and conducted by Bernardo Segall, and edited by Richard R. McCurdy. The visual effects were made by Graphic Films. NASA, the Office of Naval Research, and California Institute of Technology were additionally credited to the production of the film.[7] Todd-AO's Los Angeles mixing facility also performed part of the post-production. According to MacGillivray, To Fly! is the best film he and Freeman worked on together for over 11 years partnered, and the last Freeman film.[5]

Release and legacy[]

To Fly! was released at the NASM's Lockheed Martin IMAX theater on July 1, 1976, right during the theater's opening day,[10] as part of the United States Bicentennial.[3] Screeening film formats include 16mm, 15/70mm, 8/70mm, and Omninax-customized 15/70mm.[5][2] It originally was scheduled for a one-year limited run, but the revelation of this was met with public outcry, and the museum decided to keep screening the film;[9] it still is as of 2021 at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center's Airbus IMAX Theater, with multiple screenings per day.[11] The film was originally priced at just 50 cents,[4] but then increased to $9 for adults.[11] MacGillivray said the extension was unexpected.[9] It became very popular, that there were about 14 showtimes everyday.[5] Unfortunately, Freeman was killed in a helicopter crash two days prior to release, where he was given a film assignment. The Orange County Register reported that "MacGillivray was determined the film['s production] company", MacGillivray Freeman Films, "would always carry his friend and partner’s name."[12] MacGillivray also stated that To Fly! is "a real tribute to his work and his creativity that the film has lived on as it has."[8] Collins says that the film "should be a break from the learning going on in the rest of the museum."[9] 1996 special assistant LeRoy London says that the film is an amplification of the fascination or interest of flying within visitors.[8] The Smithsonian said that another theme of the film is how flying is human's destiny, as covered in the penultimate quote from the film's narration.[11] To celebrate its 20th anniversary, a special edition was screened in 1996,[2] which used a new version of score. An example of the alteration is in the theme music: where a masculine chant of the melody was added.[8]

The film was also the premiere film for two theme park IMAX-es: Six Flags Great America's Pictorium IMAX Theater (1979) and the Dreamworld IMAX Theater at Gold Coast, Australia (1981). Dreamworld's founder John Longhurst was also inspired to make the IMAX theater after seeing To Fly! in another IMAX theater; he recalled being "very excited" seeing the film. Pictorium was marketed with a poster showcasing a still from the hang-glider scene, as well as an advertisement featuring the Blue Angels still.[13][14] On August 2002, Pictorium rescreened the film.[15] For the first 15 months of the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television (now the National Science and Media Museum) IMAX theater in April 1983, To Fly! was the only film that screened;[16] the museum stated that its "breathtaking" and "beautiful" visuals reflect their mission to showcase giant-screen films.[17] It was rescreened in 2013 for their 30th anniversary.[16] The film also screened at the American Museum of Natural History's Naturemax Theater,[18][19] as well as the Keong Emas IMAX Theater in Jakarta; the latter still preserves their 70mm film print in case screening is wished.[20] Other countries include Germany, Japan, and Mexico.[4] To Fly!'s success prompted museums to build theaters, particularly in IMAX;[6] among the museums in question is the National Museum of Natural History.[19] It has also been screened in various film festivals,[9] including the 2019 IMAX Victoria Film Festival.[21] The film has also been viewed by government officials of the Soviet Union, Spain, United Kingdom, Egypt, Indonesia, United States, and Greece. During his first inauguration in 1981, President Ronald Reagan handed a copy to Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.[2]

An estimated amount of a million people have seen To Fly! at the National Air and Space Museum in its first year.[5] Over 100 million people have probably seen it in theaters, with over 15 million at the National Air and Space Museum;[2] 4.5 million of which are in the first four years,[4] and reaching 13 million in 1996. A 1996 CBS News report says that it was the "longest running ticketed film in one location in history."[8] For over a year, around 80% of seats were filled.[5] Worldwide, the film accumulated over 300 million viewers, as of 1996.[8] The film set several box-office records,[5] earning over US$86.6 million domestically and US$135 million worldwide.[22]:3 It was the highest grossing documentary of all time before the release of Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004. It, however, remains the second-highest grossing giant screen documentary film of all time, after the 1998 Everest.[2] However a 2003 Duke University Press publication disagrees, claiming it grossed more than US$150 million.[23] Theatrically, the film is the longest exhibited documentary in the world.[24] It was also stated to be the most popular film globally between 1975 and 1980,[25] and the highest-grossing corporate-sponsored film of all time.[22]:40 However, the film was stated to be unpopular within the film community.[25] The Lodi News-Sentinel reported in 1991 that over 100 million people have viewed it at schools and television.[26] Concerning the former, the Smithsonian made an eight-page field trip and curriculum guide in PDF for schools that recommend certain galleries of the NASM to look at to elaborate points in the film, stating several facts from the film, as well as exercises and discussions that can be done after watching the film, also linking several resource pages for further learning.[27]

Six blue fighter jets in triangular formation speeding above a plain expanse and large river.
Shot of the Blue Angels in diamond formation. The film's cinematography has been said to induce vertigo in the majority of audiences.

Audiences, regardless of demographics,[8] were "astonished" by To Fly!'s IMAX panorama, which is said to induce vertigo.[10] Sighs, gasps, oohs, and cries were heard in most of the audiences.[22]:41 During the balloon opening sequence, "ahhh"-s can be heard.[4] Others, however, screamed in jolt and "hastily" left the theater during its vertiginous scenes.[19] Later, NASM added pre-entry warnings about potential dizziness and motion sickness.[28] The audience reactions also prompted them to blurb the film on their website with: "Feel the Earth Drop Away Beneath You".[19] This was later replaced in 2016 with a one-minute trailer highlighting its 20th and 40th anniversary.[11] People with fear of flying said that they are able to watch it without getting scared. Those who watched it also brought their children there to watch the film.[9] It was the longest-running corporate-sponsored film in Washington, D.C. history, as well as the top three reason people visit the city. The Washington Post credited word of mouth to the popularity.[4] Contrary to popular belief, the film is not the first in IMAX, though was instrumental to the introduction of the then-new format.[10] Kieth Merrill, who made the IMAX documentary Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets (1984), credited To Fly! to the success of IMAX.[5] Christopher Nolan, known for filming films in IMAX, also has To Fly! on his list of films viewed in the format; the film's influence on him is most distinct in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), in one of its aerial scenes.[29] Terry Virts, who starred in the IMAX documentary A Beautiful Planet (2016), cited To Fly! as one of his most memorable childhood IMAX films.[30] In 1995, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry (NFR).[10] Voters of the Giant Screen Theater Association (GSTA) inducted it into the IMAX Hall of Fame in September 2001.[2] The Washington Times reported in 2012 that the fascination for the film has not changed.[9]

Upon its popularity, film sponsor Conoco collaborated with MacGillivray Freeman Films and Dennis Earl Moore Productions in another NASM IMAX film, Flyers (1982), which focuses on fictional World War II aviator Kyle Murphy.[31] Flyers also became an instant success, and in March 4, 1982, Random House made an eponymous companion picture children's book.[31] MacGillivray Freeman Films then made more IMAX documentaries, notably The Dream is Alive (1985, became the highest grossing IMAX film up to 1992)[32] and The Living Sea (1995, also inducted into the IMAX Hall of Fame, and nominated for Best Short Documentary at the 68th Academy Awards).[33] Still continuing, it was credited to the success of IMAX.[21] In 1984, a film using outtakes from To Fly! and Flyers was proposed, but this never happened.[34] Instead, it saw a Betamax release in 1985,[35] a LaserDisc release in December 12, 1991,[36] and a VHS release, which was released on Amazon.com in May 28, 2005.[37] In March 20, 2011, the VHS was preserved at the Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department of the Hagley Museum and Library, thus available for free at their online archive.[38] It was also available for purchase at Amazon Prime Video.[37]

On September 23 2002, Clarion Books published an illustrated children's book titled To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers, written by Wendie C. Old and illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker, which received a positive review from Publishers Weekly.[39] On April 2003, James Tobin published a book titled To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight, and at the same month published an excerpt, titled "To Fly!", at the Smithsonian magazine.[40]

Reception[]

Can you really call yourself a Washingtonian if you haven’t seen To Fly?

—John Kelly, The Washington Post

To Fly! received rave reviews from critics, with it being listed among the best films of the 1970s,[41] as well as the best documentary of that decade by the Information Film Producers Association.[42] It has been called a Washington icon;[4] The Washington Post said that it is a must-watch to all Washingtonians.[24]

The film was cited by academic sources as an example of surrealism in cinema,[43] a prime example of the power of aerial photography to enhance a narrative[44] and IMAX as the equivalent of virtual reality,[8] as well as a pioneer of kinesthetic responses and coverage of science and technology within cinema.[19][28][45] Critic Daniel Eagan, in his book reviewing NFR-preserved films, opined that the majority of the point of views depicted in the opening sequence of To Fly! are to be "processional, celebrating the American landscape while remaining distant from it." From that point, the film explores the country, igniting patriotic empathy.[46] Stuart Heritage of The Guardian considers it one of the few high-quality IMAX films, labeling it "dreary" and "educational."[47] John Russell, writing for The New York Times, opined that the film succeeds in immersing audiences to its narrative despite its short duration, and that the film gets better as time passes. He also categorized it a poetry film, citing its "irresistible", wonderous look of nature due to its cinematography, thus also calling the film underrated.[25] In a similarly-toned 1982 review at Natural History, critic Douglas J. Peterson compared the film, as well as its use of the IMAX format, to thrilling amusement park rides.[19] The Washington Calendar Magazine called To Fly! "[1976]'s most exciting movie-going experience", as well as the most technically advanced film as of the time period, urging major film companies to "watch out."[22]:41

Some negative opinions were expressed by Mark R. Hasan of KQEK.com, who felt that some of the film's edits are rough, and that Ezekiel's dialogue scenes are "quite awful", exacerbated by "rudimentary" sound mixing. However, he emphasized that all these shortcomings fade during the non-dialogue scenes, with sweeping cinematography, thematically ambient score, as well as "elaborate" and "directional" sound mixing during the spaceflight scene.[35] Ross Anthony, writing for his Hollywood Report Card site, gave the film a B+ grade retrospectively, equivalent to 2.5 out of 4 stars, noting that he would've graded it A had he wrote his review in 1976. He stated that Ezekiel is a mawkishly sentimental caricature, and that the hot-air balloon scenes were edited inconsistently, observing that the balloon does not move at all. He also lamented the omissions of real-life aviation pioneers. He concluded that To Fly! is "amusing and informative (on a basic level)", and recommended the short IMAX documentary Silent Sky (1977) for aviation enthusiasts.[48]

Accolades[]

Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref
Cine Golden Eagle Golden Eagle Award To Fly! Won [22]:42
Chicago International Film Festival Best Film Award and Special Jury Award (Cinematography) To Fly! + Brad Ohlund Won
Berlin Inforfilm Festival None To Fly! First
Bicentennial Festival of Films on Aeronautics and Space Grand
Festival of the Americas Special Jury Award Won
Columbus International Film Festival Chris Bronze Plaque Award Won

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ In the film and trailer, "Fly!" is stylized in all caps

References[]

  1. ^ "To Fly!". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Archived from the original on December 17, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h "To Fly!". MacGillivray Freeman Films. Archived from the original on April 5, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k MacGillivray, Greg; Freeman, Jim (July 4, 1976). "Producing the IMAX Motion Picture: 'To Fly'". American Cinematographer. Vol. 57 no. 7. American Society of Cinematographers. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2021 – via ProQuest.(subscription required)
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Kernan, Michael (July 1, 1980). "Flight of the Filmgoer". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Nash Holdings. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gilliam, Bret (October 13, 2016). "Greg MacGillivray A Lifetime in Film Master of IMAX". Scuba Diving International. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d MacGillivray, Greg. "Inspire Friday Issue No. 19". MacGillivray Freeman Films. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c Noted in the film's credits
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j ""To Fly" Segment featured on CBS This Morning". CBS This Morning. March 20, 2011 [July 1, 1995]. VID_2011320_B03_ID06_02. Archived from the original on August 8, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021 – via Hagley Digital Archives.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Freishtat, Sarah (July 12, 2012). "'To Fly!': Air and Space Museum opened in 1976 with film's first screening". The Washington Times. Operations Holdings. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Pisano, Dominick (May 3, 2010). "IMAX—Not the First, but Close!". National Air and Space Museum. Archived from the original on July 6, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "To Fly!". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  12. ^ Corky, Carroll (April 25, 2014). "Surf-film pioneer MacGillivray to be honored at Newport Film Festival". Orange County Register. Digital First Media. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  13. ^ "IMAX Pictorium, Gurnee 1979 — 2018". Six Flags Great America. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021. Opened in 1979, the premiere film for the Gurnee Pictorium was “To Fly!”.
  14. ^ "Dreamworld History" (PDF). Dreamworld. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2010. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  15. ^ Drabek, Paul B. (August 3, 2002). "Six Flags Great America Theme Park". Negative-G. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 24, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021. This year [Six Flags] brought back one of the first Imax movies that the Pictorium played..."To Fly".
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Vaughan, Dick (June 13, 2013). "Bringing the first permanent IMAX installation to Bradford". Bradford: National Science and Media Museum. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  17. ^ To Fly (Leaflet). Bradford: National Museum of Photography, Film & Television. 1983. TO FLY [...] is—thanks to the extraordinary IMAX process in which it is filmed—breathtaking and beautiful. Its screening is a symbol of the commitment of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television to the big-screen presentation of films and stills.
  18. ^ Kosner, Edward, ed. (February 7, 1983). "Movies—Museums, Societies, Etc.—American Museum of Natural History". New York. News Group Magazines. p. 87. ISSN 0028-7369.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Griffiths, Alison (June 11, 2013). Shivers Down Your Spine: Cinema, Museums, and the Immersive View. Columbia University Press. pp. 225, 227–229. ISBN 978-0231129893.
  20. ^ Ekaputra, Tarih. "Teater IMAX Keong Emas" [Keong Emas IMAX Theater]. F Magazine (in Indonesian). Jakarta: MediaKonsumen.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2021 – via National Library of Indonesia.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b MacGillivray, Greg (April 4, 2020). "IMAX Victoria Live with Greg MacGillivray" (YouTube live stream). Interviewed by Silver, Lea. Victoria, British Columbia: IMAX Victoria. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "MacGillivray Freeman Films Filmography (1963 through 2017)" (PDF). MacGillivray Freeman Films. 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  23. ^ Rabinovitz, Lauren; Geil, Abraham; Rigal, Laura; Depew, David (2003). Memory Bytes: History, Technology, and Digital Culture. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780822385691.
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b Kelly, John (January 10, 2016). "A long time ago, big reels of film came to Air and Space Museum. No more". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b c Russell, John (May 8, 1980). "Film: 'To Fly,' Irresistible Fantasy". The New York Times (National ed.). p. 0. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 21, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  26. ^ Weybret, Marty (June 27, 1991). "For movie crew, Lodi a Dutch treat". Lodi News-Sentinel. Horizon Publications. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 21, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2021 – via Google News.
  27. ^ "To Fly!" (PDF). Smithsonian Institution. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b Geiger, Jeffrey; Littau, Karin (November 30, 2013). Cinematicity in Media History. Edinburgh University Press. p. 140. ISBN 9780748676149.
  29. ^ Blair, Elizabeth (May 2, 2014). "Maintaining The IMAX Experience, From Museum To Multiplex". NPR. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  30. ^ Ziv, Stav (May 10, 2016). "'A Beautiful Planet' Whisks Viewers to Space for 45 Minutes". Newsweek. IBT Media. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  31. ^ Jump up to: a b Naus, Rainer; Baer, Christopher T. (2013) [1974]. "Conoco files on IMAX films "To Fly" and "Flyers" Files". Hagley Museum & Library. 2527. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  32. ^ Cohn, Lawrence (January 6, 1992). "Top 100 All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. Penske Media. p. 86.
  33. ^ "The Living Sea". MacGillivray Freeman Films. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  34. ^ "Proposal for new film using outtakes - MacGillivray-Freeman, 1984". Hagley Museum & Library. 2013 [1984]. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
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  43. ^ "Surrealist Film - Important Art". The Art Story. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2021. Much of this movie was actually filmed by Deren's second husband, Alexander Hammid, a pioneer of Czech cinema and later the creator of the first IMAX film, To Fly!, in 1976.
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  46. ^ Eagan, Daniel (October 15, 2009). America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0826429773.
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  48. ^ Anthony, Ross. "Flight Game: To Fly". Hollywood Report Card. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2021.

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