More 50 Year Old World's Fair Fun (Video)
Apr. 26th, 2014 05:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penpusherPoking around YouTube for some more about the 1964-65 New York World's Fair actually had a lot of results!
I think this World's Fair really had an impact on the direction the country went. Certainly Walt Disney had a lot to do with what happened, as the Disney Imagineers were responsible for several of the pavilions presented, and I'll get to that in a moment.
But the commercial element of the Fair is what really stands out more than anything. There were pavilions for various states and other countries, but the impact of the corporate sponsored elements was undeniable.
Let's Go Back to 1964 and have a look through some of the more notable filmed pieces.
Here's the perfect place to start: this humorous promo film for the World's Fair. It runs 25 minutes but it's pretty entertaining, and really gives you a view of what being on the grounds was really like.
That leads to this segue titled "Sinclair at the World's Fair." Some people remember the early 1990s ABC puppet based sitcom "Dinosaurs," about the Sinclair family. Their surname came from this now diminished oil company! With a bit more of a tour around the grounds, you get to see their nearly "Back to the Future" style 2015 gas station, with rocket ships rotating around a circular base to your car to pump your petrol, and the large (presumably lifesized) Dinos they displayed outside in the fair grounds. Lots more footage from around the fair is included here. 15 minutes.
Next, let's get Uncle Walt involved, and was he ever! First, let's go on a ride with Ford, as they present "The Magic Skyway," a trip through the history of the Earth, narrated by Mr. Disney himself. It's a 15 minute tour, riding in your brand new 1964 Ford convertible! Whatta ride!
And the one fair attraction that is still being attended today (in every Disney Theme Park globally) is "It's a Small World," which was in the Pepsi Pavilion, but was allegedly designed to celebrate UNICEF = the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. This featurette, produced as only Disney could, and again hosted by Walt himself, here's 15 minutes in the 100 countries of that attraction.
Now since![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
low_delta mentioned the Johnson Wax Pavilion was relocated and repurposed (or was supposed to be repurposed) as part of the S.C. Johnson headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin - I think there was some issue with it? Here's the film that ran inside that saucer shaped theater: "To Be Alive!" It's 19 minutes.
And that's all for this trip to the fair!
I think this World's Fair really had an impact on the direction the country went. Certainly Walt Disney had a lot to do with what happened, as the Disney Imagineers were responsible for several of the pavilions presented, and I'll get to that in a moment.
But the commercial element of the Fair is what really stands out more than anything. There were pavilions for various states and other countries, but the impact of the corporate sponsored elements was undeniable.
Let's Go Back to 1964 and have a look through some of the more notable filmed pieces.
Here's the perfect place to start: this humorous promo film for the World's Fair. It runs 25 minutes but it's pretty entertaining, and really gives you a view of what being on the grounds was really like.
That leads to this segue titled "Sinclair at the World's Fair." Some people remember the early 1990s ABC puppet based sitcom "Dinosaurs," about the Sinclair family. Their surname came from this now diminished oil company! With a bit more of a tour around the grounds, you get to see their nearly "Back to the Future" style 2015 gas station, with rocket ships rotating around a circular base to your car to pump your petrol, and the large (presumably lifesized) Dinos they displayed outside in the fair grounds. Lots more footage from around the fair is included here. 15 minutes.
Next, let's get Uncle Walt involved, and was he ever! First, let's go on a ride with Ford, as they present "The Magic Skyway," a trip through the history of the Earth, narrated by Mr. Disney himself. It's a 15 minute tour, riding in your brand new 1964 Ford convertible! Whatta ride!
And the one fair attraction that is still being attended today (in every Disney Theme Park globally) is "It's a Small World," which was in the Pepsi Pavilion, but was allegedly designed to celebrate UNICEF = the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. This featurette, produced as only Disney could, and again hosted by Walt himself, here's 15 minutes in the 100 countries of that attraction.
Now since
low_delta mentioned the Johnson Wax Pavilion was relocated and repurposed (or was supposed to be repurposed) as part of the S.C. Johnson headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin - I think there was some issue with it? Here's the film that ran inside that saucer shaped theater: "To Be Alive!" It's 19 minutes.And that's all for this trip to the fair!