Futurama ride at 1939 World's Fair celebrated
Wired's Chris Baker has a great little story about the original Futurama, the grandfather of dark rides, which premiered at the 1939 World's Fair. It was a football-field-sized diorama of a city of tomorrow, through which armchairs rode on tracks, playing synchronized soundtracks piped up from hundreds of turntables in the basement. I've been fascinated by the Futurama since I read about it in the old Journal of Ride Theory.
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"Detailed miniatures are always compelling," says Dan Howland, editor of the Journal of Ride Theory. "It doesn't matter whether they are doll houses or model trains or it's Legoland, something about them just sucks you in. The 1939 Futurama had two other factors that compounded the fascination: first, a promise of personal car ownership (and after the Great Depression that sounded pretty good), and second, a grand vision of the future. Up until the Futurama, manufacturers had exhibited at fairs to show how they made their products, and then the Futurama came along and said, Here is how the future will feel. The 1939 audience wasn't used to having a company selling optimism, and it made their hearts sing."GM's ride presented a utopia forged by urban planning. Sophisticated highways ran through rural farmland and eventually moved into carefully ordered futuristic cities. "You have to understand that the audience had never even considered a future like this," says Howland. "There wasn't an interstate freeway system in 1939. Not many people owned a car. They staggered out of the fair like a cargo cult and built an imperfect version of this incredible vision."
See also: Journal of Ride Theory amazing zine is now an amazing book
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Does anyone remember the incredible PBS documentary on the 1939 World's Fair, The World of Tomorrow, written by John Crowley?
He really captured a special feeling about the fair, a combination of giddy optimism about the distant future with unease and avoidance of the very foreboding present (with all the international pavilions celebrating friendship and peace, just before Hitler's Anschluss into Poland.) Man, I'd love to see that available on video.
One moment from it, segueing from the World's Fair to The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy and her friends run towards the distant Emerald City, was hauntingly evocative, and has stayed with me in the 20-some years since I last saw it.
You might be interested to know that Eisenhower's Secretary of the Department of Transportation, at the time the interstate system was being established, was also a high ranking executive at GM.
Precisely, Clifton. I wear a 'I have seen the future' pin as a reminder. We look to technology to make our lives better while ignoring conditions around us that may doom our future. In 1939 it was the prospect of world war. Today, well, take your pick.
And yet, the future we envision helps configure the future we get.
It needs a Planet Express ride! With Bender bot!
CLIFTON WROTE:Does anyone remember the incredible PBS documentary on the 1939 World's Fair, The World of Tomorrow, written by John Crowley?...an, I'd love to see that available on video.
Actually, the DVD is available on Amazon. A bit pricey, but it's as good as you remember.-CB
Wow, thanks! That just went on my Christmas wish list.
The World of Tomorrow captures a monent in time that lies on the curve of history in the hiatus between what was and what will be, about the endeavor to escape the past and bring forth a future. It is about the cresative tension of anticipation of the future. There is not only the optimism about what we can do but that what we can do is worth while doing. The tone of Jason Robards narration, as well as Crowleys writing captures the moment perfectly.
Note to all: Thank you, each and everyone ! I thought I was one of the only people in the Universe that revered this remarkable Documentary.
I first saw it about 1985, or whenever it was first broadcast on PBS. When it was re-run I taped it, and I watch it EVERY YEAR at about the time of the 4th of July or my birthday in August.
PBS did a Special re-running of it again in 1979 for the 40th Anniversary of that iconic moment in History.
Actually, when I initially viewed the show, and heard Jason Robards narration, I thought that he was telling the story from HIS point of view...as the people in the early films ACTUALLY look like Robards relatives ! Check-it out next time and see what I mean.
Occasionally, I also collect memorablia connected with this remarkable 1939 World's Fair.
One of my favorite parts of the Documentary is when it shows how our World changed from black & white to color...an amazing transition that some younger viewers find hard to understand, as they don't even remember black & white TV !
"The World of Tomorrow" is one of the most beautiful, memory-laden, historically perfect Documentaries EVER produced. And, the ending never fails to bring a tear to my eye, as one part of our History closes...and the tragedy of WW2 looms ahead.
Again, my sincere thanks for letting me know, the next time I watch this in a few weeks, that I am NOT alone.
JK