The Flintstones at the New York World's Fair
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Yep. The Flintstones visited the World's Fair. Wait... Wouldn't the Jetsons have been a more appropriate choice? Did the Flintstones visit the Disney-built attractions at the Fair??
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Hey, it's Sinclair Dinoland below!
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Oh look. The Jetsons did go to the World's Fair.
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That big "model of the moon" is the Transportation and Travel Pavilion featuring the Cinerama film To the Moon and Beyond sponsored by KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines.
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Photo courtesy of Gorilla's Don't Blog
Fred, of course, picks a terrible landing spot: The US Royal Tires Ferris Wheel.
The giant tire was designed by the same architectural firm that designed the Empire State Building. During the fair, Jackie Kennedy rode the attraction. Also, the wheel (without the ride) still stands today, but in Detroit.
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The GM building, home of the very popular (non-Disney) attraction, Futurama.
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Behind Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har (did all the Hanna-Barbera character go to the World's Fair on the same day?) we see the New York State Pavilion which also still stands today, but is quite deteriorated.
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That pod-looking elevator thing he's in? Yeah, it's still on the fair grounds but it's in pieces just below the towers.
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The Flintstones meet the Jetsons... again. This time George Jetson isn't happy.
Looks like Huckleberry Hound is driving a Greyhound Glide-a-Ride tram. There were four different kinds of Greyhound trams "gliding" around the fair. Some offered spieled tours and some just offered just basic transportation.
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Before Fred and Barney really get themselves into trouble, they pass the Swiss Sky Ride.
The Sky Ride offered four rows of moving buckets, double that of the extinct Skyways at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom. Unlike Disney's Skyway, you can STILL ride this same Swiss Sky Ride (now called Skyride) at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.
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What's this about a wooden fish? Dino stole it from Disney's Tower of the Four Winds? Of course our Flintstones comic book doesn't mention "Disney" now, does it? Nor does it mention PEPSI Present's Walt Disney's "It's a Small World" — a Salute to UNICEF, but we all know what it refers to.
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Wait. Was there a "wooden fish" on Rolly Crump's Tower of the Four Winds?
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It looks like there was indeed a fish.
Photo courtesy of Gorilla's Don't Blog
This next comic book panel is somewhat accurate in that the Tower of the Four Winds and General Electric Progressland featuring Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress were just down the path from each other.
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What's left of Progressland? Not much more than a couple of drinking fountains and park benches. Oh and the Carousel of Progress attraction itself still runs all these years later at Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.
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Can't Fred Flintstone just enjoy the New York World's Fair like a normal person?? He's now climbing on the New York City scale model.
Guess what. You can still visit this incredible model (the world's largest of its kind) in the very building it was originally introduced. And get this. This World's Fair structure was actually built for the New York City Pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair. The same building was then home to the New York City Pavilion at the 1964-64 World's Fair. And it still stands today.
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What's that white building in the background?? None other than the Ford Pavilion, home of Magic Skyway. Unlike Disneyland's Skyway, this Magic Skyway, mostly designed by Walt Disney's people, carried visitors in late-model Fords past prehistoric and futuristic show scenes. Go inside, guys!
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Lastly, the Flintstones and Rubbles take a three-quarter-mile ride on the AMF Monorail.
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So, yes, the Flintstones did at least walk past three of the four Disney attractions at the World's Fair (no record of the Illinois "Land of Lincoln" Pavilion featuring Walt Disney's Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln).
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Related posts:
THEN AND NOW: 1964-65 New York World's Fair
What Remains of the 1964-65 New York World's Fair?
Carousel of Progress Like You’ve Never Seen It
A Disney Artist's Designs for a Hanna Barbera Land
Illustrated Donald Duck
Reader Comments (6)
THIS EXISTS??
I have never seen this before. Wow. 25 cents?
Great piece.
Who knew so many NYWF pieces still exist today. Great post.
I love the fish and the way they would work something like that into the comic. It's that peculiar type of situational humor I recall from my old comic books that made them so endearing. I know that Rolly has said he wasn't very fond of the way the Tower of the Four Winds turned out - the fabricator beefed-up all his steel supports so it wasn't as light as the model. Still, I hope he kept some mementos from it. The fish is awesome!
It definitely looks like it was a Hanna-Barbera day at the fair. If the Marvel characters showed up they would have had to rumble - no doubt about it!
I wonder if I could get you e-mail address. I'm about to start my master degree in cultural and scientific communictaion and I'm planning on doing my thesis about EPCOT. You would be a great asset. Thank you!
That is a great shot of the NYC map! I remember it well because I helped my Dad silk screen all those windows for Lester Associates who built it. They were done with ultraviolet paint so they would glow when they took the lights down and lit it with the UV lights. We also did the panels for the green areas for the lower area of Manhattan.