Georges Melies was a real guy!?

When I saw Hugo when it was still in theaters, I saw a brief clip taken from a Trip to the Moon and spliced into the film. At that time I thought it was quite interesting, because the interpretation of the rocket and moon in that scene are so different from anything that our modern science fiction creates, and deems realistic. However, at that time I did not know that Georges Melies was a real movie making pioneer.  Nor did I realize that the shot with the rocket just suddenly appearing out of thin air right in the moon's eye was taken from a real movie.  So now I understand why this interpretation of space travel is so different from modern takes on science fiction.  Since Melies didn't have the advanced technology we do to base the educated guesses that determine what is plausible for future technology, he relied on tricks and magic in technologies place. Yet, even though this isn't something I've encountered before in cinema, I can't help but love it.  The idea that a crew of 3 people can climb into a giant bullet, and basically catapulted at the moon and be able to hit it, is just hilarious to me.  The way the moons face is just minding its own business, when out of no where a giant bullet appears in its eye cracked me up.  And the civilization that the "space explorers" find on the moon was just over the top.  The way Melies created movies was not just artistic in form and application, but also incredibly innovative for his time.  Its basically because of him that we have so many special effects and tricks to use in film and cinema today.  So thank you Georges Melies, for your entertainment, movie magic, and creative genius.