On the Comet (variously titled Na Komete and Archa Pana Servadaca in Czechoslovakia) is based on an 1877 novel by Jules Verne, originally titled Hector Servadac but more popularly known as Off on a Comet. The principal characters all happen to be standing on a piece of Earthbound real estate when it detaches itself from the World and becomes a comet. Emil Horvath Jr. plays Servadac, who with cool aplomb tries to cogitate a way out of this dreadful dilemma. On the Comet was the fourth and final Verne adaptation directed by Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman, the best-known of which was 1961's Fabulous World of Jules Verne. As in the other three Verne films, Zeman superbly combines live action with animation and woodcut-style backgrounds The original Verne novel upon which On the Comet was based was previously filmed in the US as Valley of the Dragons (1961).