Hello and welcome to the world of tomorrow!
If the analytics are any indication, many of you came here through our first retrofuturism
stream. It’s one of our most popular videos. It’s a subject I love to revisit and so
I wanted to bring two of the major themes of this channel together and look how cartoons
from the past envisioned the future.
Let’s get right into it.
Now I’m going to start with maybe a controversial pick in Futurama.
But I think this will be useful in defining what is and isn’t retrofuturism which we
will be elaborating on a bit throughout the video.
Perhaps I’m showing my age, but Futurama was my introduction to the concepts of retrofuturism.
Now this was Matt Groening’s followup to The Simpsons. It featured Fry, a slacker from
1999 who was cryogenically frozen and thawed in 2999. Upon arriving in the future he resumes
his previous position of delivery boy at his distant nephew’s courier service.
Drawing inspiration from classic sci-fi, most notably Star Trek, the series followed the
delivery crew’s adventures as they navigated a futuristic world which greatly resembled
that of the late 20th century.
Retrofuturism is not simply predicting the future, but predicting how modern technology
and sensibilities will be adapted in the future.
While this series takes place in the 31st century, it was made 20 years ago, and already
it’s extremely dated.
Still waiting on those suicide booths though.
Futurama took its name from the General Motor’s exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
I’d like to spend some time here because I’m sort of obsessed with World’s Fairs
and this one was integral to the development of the modern idea of what retrofuturism is
and it also very much informed the aesthetics associated with the style or concept.
While they’ve largely fallen out of fashion, World’s Fairs allow nations to showcase
their culture and innovation. They’ve given us the Ferris Wheel, the Eiffel Tower and
in 1939, hope for the future.
1939 was an interesting year. America found themselves in between the Great Depression
and World War 2, two pretty terrible times.
In the middle, the Fair looked ahead to better times and showcased the ideas and inventions
that would define the century, with automation and convenience taking centre stage.
Designed by Norman Bel Geddes, Futurama imagined an inter-connected network of expressways,
presenting a solution to travelling America’s varied terrain by automobile. The diorama
was an acre in size and contained over 500,000 buildings and 50,000 cars. Visitors experienced
it in a simulated flight from above, lasting 18 minutes.
Other attractions included the Trylon and Perisphere, which served as the symbol of
the Fair. These were two massive structures designed by Wallace Harrison and J. Andre
Fouilhoux, inside of which was Democracity, another diorama depicting the city of the
future.
Speaking of the future, Westinghouse buried a time capsule, featuring period ephemera,
like Life Magazine and a pack of Camels. It was to be opened in the year 6939, which is
extremely optimistic to think America, let alone humanity, will still be around in 5000
years, but again the theme was hope.
In 1938, Dave and Max Fleischer produced a promotional short for the Fair, titled All’s
Fair at the Fair. This followed a couple through the exaggerated wonders the Fair had to offer.
25 years later, a group of nostalgic businessmen attempted to recreate this magic with the
unsanctioned 1964 New York World’s Fair. In some ways, this was the future the original
had envisioned. Not only was this peak nuclear age, but also the height of America’s economic
power and international standing.
The fair showcased mid-century modern design and acknowledged the progress that had been made
since 1939.
It’s symbol, the still standing Unisphere, was made to represent human achievement on
a shrinking globe in an expanding universe.
While not directly related to cartoons, Walt Disney had a huge influence over the Fair
and it was here he further developed the art of audio-animatronics.
Disney had been experimenting with robotic animation since the opening of Disneyland
in 1955. He and animator Rolly Crump designed four exhibitions for the World’s Fair, all
of which would be relocated to Disneyland after the Fair ended.
There was Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, featuring a robot Abraham Lincoln reciting
speeches, of course foreshadowing the Hall of Presidents.
General Electric sponsored The Carousel of Progress, walking visitors through the developments
of the 20th century, ending with a glimpse at the 21.
The Ford Motor Company presented the Magic Skyway, a cruise through prehistoric and futuristic
dioramas, and most famous of all, Pepsi gave us It’s a Small World.
A major theme of the Fair was Peace Through Understanding. Working with this, Disney and
Crump, along with artist Mary Blair and designers Alice and Marc Davis, created a tour through
the nations of the world. More than 300 animatronic dolls were brought to life from various cultures,
singing the Sherman Brothers It’s a Small World in Unison. Post-fair, it has become
one of Disneyland’s most iconic attractions.
This era’s vision of the future is immortalized in Hanna-Barbera’s The Jetsons. Running
from 1962 to 1963, this followed the family of the future, father George, mother Jane,
and kids Judy and Elroy.
The Jetsons suffered from the same issue as its predecessor, The Flintstones, did in that
it was more or less a 1950s-style sitcom transplanted to a futuristic setting. Like Futurama, it
projected the norms of the time but rather than address its issues, or possible issues,
wars, The Jetsons inhabit a future of convenience and comfort. Technology has made it so that
going to work is seemingly a formality though we of course, don’t see the subclass that
allows this comfortable life no doubt dwelling below.
Spiritually, The Jetsons was predated by John Sutherland’s Your Safety First. We talked
about John in Part 4 of Animation/Propaganda. He was famous for producing pro-capitalist
cartoons and in 1956 he made this short which shared many commonalties with The Jetsons,
not limited to its depiction of the future. It also featured George Jetson’s voice,
George O’Hanlon, playing a father in search of a new car for his family. They view a program
detailing the history of the automobile on a 3-D TV, highlighting the many ways manufactures
make vehicles safe.
Retrofuturism is not limited to speculative media from the past. It can also be used as
an aesthetic or philosophy even, showing some other past’s future or some other future’s
past.
The examples of these we’re going to look at are both from 2004.
First up. Pixar’s The Incredibles.
According to director Brad Bird, the world of the Incredibles looks forward from an alternate
1960s where superheroes are not only real but outlawed.
Forming the group is a nuclear family, with the parents coming out of retirement and the
children discovering their powers, to battle a former superfan turned villain.
Inspired, obviously, by 1960s comics, as well as Cold War espionage films, it maintains
the aesthetics of the ‘60s and true to that period, its soundtrack was record on analog
equipment. On the other side of the coin is Sky Captain
and the World of Tommorow. This is an example of the sub-genre or style of dieselpunk, combining
futuristic and diesel-fuelled technology, with aesthetics from the period between the
Wars.
Sky Captain takes place in an alternate past, specifically 1939, in which an ace fighter
pilot and a journalist unravel a mad scientist’s plot to restart humanity.
While it bombed at the box office it is notable for a couple of reasons. It is one of the
earliest examples of digital filmmaking, mixing live actors against a CGI background. It was
also the final film role of Lawrence Olivier, 15 years after his death. He was brought back
to life using CGI, old audio and film footage.
Given its title and setting, New York, it’s no surprise Sky Captain leans heavily on the
1939 World’s Fair. Director Kerry Conran drew inspiration from Norman Bel Geddes and
modelled the look of his New York after Futurama.
I think it’s also worth mentioning that while this film flopped, philosophically,
or thematically, it was a success, in my opinion anyway, in showcasing the future of filmmaking.
Why I think retrofuturism resonates so much with me, and maybe you identify with
this, is because we are living in an increasingly pessimistic time. With wealth disparity, political
tensions and climate change, it’s easy to lose hope and feel like there really is no
future.
To get lost in an idealized tomorrow, where all lives are made convenient by technological
advances and algorithms assist us rather than replace us. I don’t know. It’s comforting.
At the same time it’s important to recognize, one past’s dystopian nightmare is another’s
paradise.
So chin up.
Honourable mention goes out to Interplanetary Revolution, you can hear more about that in
part four of Animation/Propaganda, which we just wrapped up. Check that out if you haven’t.
We have a lot of exciting stuff coming up over on Patreon, so if you’d like to dissociate
and break time, you can. Patreon.com/picsnportraits. Support us there and as always thank you so much
for watching.
Here's to tomorrow!