Moon Landing: Toy Story to Despicable Me and other surprising Moon landing films

Neil Armstrong stepped on to the Moon's surface on 21 July 1969 and a camera sent the mesmerising moment to millions of people who were watching on television.

The Apollo 11 mission was one of the most important moments in television, but it wasn't the first time it would land on screen.

Over the next 50 years there have been hundreds of films about the Moon landing, from accounts of what happened like First Man to science fiction films like 2001: Space Odyssey, a 1968 film which showed an outpost on the Moon (something which hasn't happened by 2019 let alone by 2001).

It had such a huge impact on culture that there are lots more films with references to it.

Here are 5 films you might not expect to have a link to the Moon landing.

Despicable Me

In the first Despicable Me film Gru has a flashback to the 1960s (see picture above) when like many children of that time he watched the Moon landing on TV.

"Mom, someday, I'm going to go to the Moon," he says to his mum and his mum gives young Gru the devastating reply "I'm afraid you're too late, son. Nasa isn't sending the monkeys anymore."

While the Moon landing which is showed on the TV in the Gru lounge is quite similar to what happened in 1969, the plot which follows in Despicable Me where Gru shrinks the Moon isn't so realistic!

Toy Story

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin meets space ranger Buzz Lightyear

Buzz Lightyear's name was inspired by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon.

Pixar producers say they decided on the name because Buzz Aldrin had "the coolest astronaut name".

Aldrin has embraced the connection, pulling out a doll of his namesake Buzz Lightyear during a speech at Nasa and even quoting the famous words 'To infinity and beyond!' in a meeting with President Trump.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Steve Rogers aka Captain America misses the Moon landing when he is frozen for almost 70 years

Steve Rogers aka Captain America wakes up in 2011 after being frozen for almost 70 years. The last thing he remembers was in 1945 so he has missed quite a bit.

So Captain Rogers does what anyone would do after being frozen for decades and makes himself a list of everything he's missed and needs to catch up on - second on the list is 'Moon landing'.

Captain Rogers' list had the Moon Landing as something he needed to watch

In international versions of Captain America: Winter Soldier there are different versions of the lists. The Moon landing features on the US, UK and German version but other countries have events which are more relatable to their audiences.

Men in Black 3

In Men in Black 3 Agent J (played by Will Smith) travels back to 1969 before the launch of Apollo 11 to save his colleague Agent K

The third Men in Black film saw alien criminal Boris the Animal escaping the 'LunarMax Security Prison', a fictional prison placed on the Moon. As he leaps from the building he passes the famous US flag planted by Armstrong and Aldrin, and what appears to be the Lunar Module Eagle.

Later in the film, the agents travel back in time to 1969 and the Apollo 11 launch and Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida are an important part of the plot.

The visual effects supervisor for MIB 3 visited Cape Canaveral and looked at hundreds of photos and blueprints from Nasa to make the launch tower authentic as possible.

The Simpsons movie

In 2015 the Simpsons carried on their love of space with an appearance from Space X's Elon Musk

Long-running animation The Simpsons has had several references to the Moon landing over the years including cameos from Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Space X's Elon Musk and a flashback of Grandpa Simpson watching the Moon landing.

The 2007 The Simpsons Movie, however, showed a very different Moon landing with cartoon cat and mouse Itchy and Scratchy stepping down from the lunar module.

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