Despite rumors that this film contains footage of dinosaurs cut from The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918), "Moonbeam Trail" is wholly original, with animation by Herbert M. Dawley rather than Willis H. O'Brien. Most of the effects are separate shots of miniatures inter-cut with the father (Dawley himself) and his sons (Dawley's own two boys, also in The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918) ). The exception is a long take of two dinosaurs fighting as seen from within a cave, with Dawley and his sons crouching in the dark on the left, and the reptiles fighting on the right, framed by the opening of the cave. The Academy of Motion Pictures acquired two separate and slightly different prints of this long-unseen movie, and has arranged screenings for authorized people.