In 1959, Walt Disney and the Walt Disney Studios got together with the U.S. Department of Defense to create “Eyes in Outer Space” AKA “Eyes in Outer Space: A Science-Factual Presentation”. The film was directed by Ward Kimball. It is a documentary, an American animated short, and propaganda.
The film uses animation as well as stock footage, staged scenes and music to explain the effects of weather and climate on the Earth, and its affects on people, as well as the use of satellites on monitoring weather. Cute little vignettes are used to demonstrate the possibilities. The last part of the film talks about the possibility of using weather satellites to modify or change weather.
The film starts out mentioning satellites but then it talks about weather in general. After an in depth discussion about weather and various problems that can occur, the film goes from science fact to science fiction. The tone of the film is light and very Disney. There is a very polished look to it. Paul Frees narrates.
The first satellite, “Sputnik”, was sent into space by the Soviet Union in 1957. Two years later the power and usefulness of satellites resulted in a barrage of them being jettisoned into the upper atmosphere. By 1959 the use of satellites as weather predictors was being seriously researched. The film expands on that premise and proposes a future where, through the use of satellites and other futuristic tools, man can change the weather. It then demonstrates one possible scenario to illustrate the vision. It is a bit fanciful, but it imagines that one man alone could, in the future, divert a hurricane.
The film is more fluff than real, but it is entertaining and at only 25 minutes long feels more like a cartoon than a documentary. It is also quite dated. The modern technology referenced in the film also includes keypunch cards and dot matrix printers.
The only other actor in the film is an uncredited Jack Smith.