The Little People (The Twilight Zone)
An astronaut becomes a god to a tiny civilization.
"The Little People" is the 93rd episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on March 30, 1962 on CBS.
Quick Facts
- Series
- The Twilight Zone
- Season
- 3
- Episode
- 28
- Air date
- 30 March 1962
- Production
- 4822
- Writer
- Rod Serling
- Director
- William F. Claxton
- Guests
- Joe Maross: Peter Craig
- Claude Akins: William Fletcher
- Michael Ford: Spaceman #1
- Robert Eaton: Spaceman #2
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Astronauts William Fletcher and Peter Craig land on an alien planet to repair their ship. Craig, the malcontent co-pilot, tells Fletcher he wishes he could give orders. After hearing a sound that Fletcher does not, Craig scouts for days while Fletcher works. Craig returns acting strangely, and Fletcher notices he has not drunk water. Craig reveals he found a city of people no bigger than ants, with whom he communicated using mathematics. He terrorizes the population, crushing three buildings, and calls himself a god. Fletcher knocks him out and apologizes to the tiny folk. Later, Fletcher sees a life-size statue of Craig built by the tiny people. Craig pulls a gun and orders Fletcher to leave without him, firing at the statue and blowing off its head. Fletcher departs in disgust. Craig gloats and throws the broken head at the city as tiny voices cry out. Another ship lands, and two spacemen taller than the mountains emerge. Craig shouts that he is a god. One giant picks him up, unintentionally crushing him to death, and discards the body. The little people rejoice and pull the statue down on Craig's body.
Production
Series producer Buck Houghton explained that the final scene with the giant astronauts was an optically composited matte shot. It combined new footage of the two actors playing the giants with stock location footage of the real mountains around Death Valley, originally filmed two years earlier for the Season 1 episode "I Shot an Arrow into the Air". The episode used several props and costumes from MGM's Forbidden Planet. The sidearms worn by the Earth astronauts are two of the Forbidden Planet "blaster pistols", and the two giants wear C-57D crew tunics with different belts. An unusual prop appears in Act I when Claude Akins' character works on a device taken from the rocket. Its design suggests classic-era MGM props department manufacture and resembles items from Forbidden Planet. The hyperbolic plexiglass cover Akins removes is similar in shape to the conical dome on Robby the Robot's head but smaller. The prop's general appearance suggests it may have been built as the nose-cone of a large-scale miniature prop, though its provenance is unknown. In Dennis Etchison's Twilight Zone Radio Dramas adaptation starring Daniel J. Travanti, the character name "Craig" was changed to "Knopf" and a talking ship's computer with a female personality was added.
Legacy
The Simpsons referenced "The Little People" in its "Treehouse of Horror VII" segment "The Genesis Tub." There, Lisa Simpson accidentally creates a tiny civilization that worships her as a god, while Bart becomes their devil. This connection was later acknowledged in the South Park episode "Simpsons Already Did It."
Frequently Asked Questions
Who directed The Little People (The Twilight Zone)?
The Little People was directed by William F. Claxton.
Who wrote The Little People (The Twilight Zone)?
The Little People was written by Rod Serling.
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