Netflix has released the trailer for Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood, a film that marks a return to a form of animation for filmmaker Richard Linklater, who previously used interpolated rotoscope animation techniques (tracing over original footage – frame by frame) for his 2006 psychological sci-fi film A Scanner Darkly.
Whereas A Scanner Darkly told a heady Philip K. Dick story, a combo of hand-drawn animation, live-action and CGI is here used to tell another coming-of-age story from the Boyhood helmer. Apollo 10 1/2 takes us back to the first moon landing in the summer of 1969, looking at the historical moment from the perspectives of the astronaut & mission control, and the eyes of a young Houston boy (played by newcomer Milo Coy) who has space dreams of his own.
Linklater also wrote the picture, taking inspiration from his own childhood in Houston and wanting to provide a particular snapshot of 1960s America.
“After the years of work on Apollo 10 ½, I think everyone involved is excited to take folks on these intermingled journeys – one a young astronaut’s trip to the moon, and another that runs hand-in-hand with him and his family in the suburbs near NASA,” Linklater said in a statement. “I wanted it to be many things at once: a re-creation, a fantasy, and a memoir of ephemera, and making a large portion of the film during these dark and unsettling last two years only sharpened our focus as to what we’re primarily trying to share in this story, namely the hope, optimism, communal spirit, and creativity of that time.”
The cast also includes Jack Black, Zachary Levi, Glen Powell, Josh Wiggins, Lee Eddy, Bill Wise, Natalie L’Amoreaux, Jessica Brynn Cohen, Sam Chipman, and Danielle Guilbot.
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood will be streaming on Netflix from April 1st.
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