To Fly

To Fly

To Fly! is a 1976 American short docudrama film directed by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman of MacGillivray Freeman Films, who wrote the story with Francis Thompson, Robert M. Young, and Arthur Zegart. It premiered at the giant-screen IMAX theater of the National Air and Space Museum, which opened to celebrate the United States Bicentennial. The film chronicles the history of aviation in the US, with a narration written by Thomas McGrath. Thematically, it explores the search for national identity through the country's westward expansion, as well as humanity's relationship with aviation. The idea of the film was proposed in 1970 and revisited two years later following the museum's interest in an IMAX theater for the planned building. MacGillivray and Freeman expanded a treatment written by the Smithsonian Institution and Thompson, adding humor and various scenes intended to jolt IMAX audiences. Due to the large dimensions of the screens, the filmmakers aimed for immersion and clarity via novel cinematographic techniques. This was further enhanced by the surround sound design. Creation of the ending space sequence, featuring the first IMAX rocket launch scene, was made with various experiments. The film was edited by MacGillivray and Freeman, and features a score composed by Bernardo Segall. It was finished on schedule in two years, with a low budget of US$590,000 by Conoco. To Fly! was released on July 1, 1976, distributed by Lawrence Associates. It was initially scheduled to screen only for the Bicentennial, but due to public demand was kept indefinitely. In response to these demands, a 20th-anniversary special edition was released in 1996. It was deemed significant for increasing the number of IMAX theaters and introducing people to the nascent format, with various intense reactions observed among audiences, thus included in the National Film Registry and IMAX Hall of Fame. It also cast MacGillivray as a major IMAX filmmaker. With increasing popularity, To Fly! remained among the highest-grossing giant-screen documentaries. It saw critical acclaim in audiovisual and narrative aspects—though some were more critical on the latter—and received several accolades.

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