Avanti Planetaros was a sea captain and adventurer who had explored much of the Earth. When his father, an astronomer, told him that the only remaining frontier was in space, Avanti learned to fly a plane and contracted his sister Carona’s fiance, Dr. Krafft, to build a ship, called The Excelsior, capable of traveling to the final frontier. In the original novel, the ship’s crew included Avanti and his father. In the 1918 film, Avanti takes Krafft and a loutish American named David Dane, as well as several others. Setting out into space, The Excelsior eventually arrives on the planet Mars. They are greeted there by a race of pacifist, vegetarian Martians who have evolved past their history of violence. Avanti falls in love with Marya, the daughter of the Martian high priest. Marya and her dying father return to Earth with Avanti to help him lead a new age of peace on our planet.
Creators/Key Contributors Sophus August Berthel Michaëlis
First Appearance Himmelskibet (The Sky Ship, Novel, 1914)
First Publisher Det Danske Filminstitut
Appearance List Himmelskibet (Novel, 1914), Himmelskibet (Film, 1918)
Sample Read “A Trip to Mars” aka “Himmelskibet” [YT]
Description Avanti Planetaros was a sea captain and adventurer who had explored much of the Earth. When his father, an astronomer, told him that the only remaining frontier was in space, Avanti learned to fly a plane and contracted his sister Carona’s fiance, Dr. Krafft, to build a ship, called The Excelsior, capable of traveling to the final frontier. In the original novel, the ship’s crew included Avanti and his father. In the 1918 film, Avanti takes Krafft and a loutish American named David Dane, as well as several others. Setting out into space, The Excelsior eventually arrives on the planet Mars. They are greeted there by a race of pacifist, vegetarian Martians who have evolved past their history of violence. Avanti falls in love with Marya, the daughter of the Martian high priest. Marya and her dying father return to Earth with Avanti to help him lead a new age of peace on our planet.
