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Scenes of Futurama II
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Lunar Rovers float magically
over powdered plains...
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Antarctica is now a land
of growing communities...
- AN ATOMIC-POWERED
SUBMARINE surfaces within an all-weather port to supply scientists
turning Antarctica into a world-wide weather eye. The port, kept
free of ice the year-round, is cut through the ice shelf which
extends from the shore into the ocean. Domed warehouses handling
containerized freight shipments stand in the background of this
scene from the General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's
Fair.
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Probe for the earth's
secrets through countless centuries of ice.
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WORKMEN,
clad in specially-designed clothing to protect them from the
shattering Antarctic cold, install an under-ice laboratory along
the General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's Fair.
An excavating machine, powered by fuel cells, carves a passageway
to the next installation after holing out the laboratory site.
The Futurama attracted almost half of those who visited the Fair.
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In mobile laboratories
form expeditions into the vast white wastelands of the still
unknown.
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In aquacopters...
(note the Ride Train passing
in the background of this scene)
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...search the ocean floor
to find, miles deep, vast fields of precious minerals and ores.
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AN
AQUACOPTER, a two-man undersea personnel carrier fitted with
claw-handed arms and capable of operating on the ocean floor,
is one of the futuristic vehicles featured in the undersea set
of the General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's Fair.
In an aquacopter geologists, according to GM designers, would
be able to explore the bottom of the sea for minerals, chemicals,
petroleum and other natural resources not attainable with the
undersea craft available today. The "fans" at the top
and bottom of the aquacopter are for vertical ascent and descent
and the duct in the rear houses the power for forward motion.
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...while trains of submarines
transport materials and goods along the waterways of the under
sea.
- THE LIMITLESS
TREASURES of the sea are being extracted in this scene from the
General Motors Futurama "ride into tomorrow" at the
New York World's Fair. A drill (left) pierces the ocean floor
near a number of previously capped-off oil wells while an atomic-powered
submarine train passes in the background.
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A weekend if you wish
at Hotel Atlantis in the kingdom of the seas.
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A holiday of thrills and
of adventures. Of beauty and enchantment.
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A jungle road is built
in one continuous operation.
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First, a searing ray of
light, a laser beam, cuts through the trees.
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Then a giant machine,
a factory on wheels, cuts up the stumps and jungle growth...
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These forest highways
now are bringing to the innermost depths of the tropic world
the goods and materials of progress and prosperity...
- DEEP WITHIN
the jungle a freight depot lies athwart an electronically-controlled
highway. Inside the depot are containerized shipments of lumber,
chemicals, minerals and other raw materials which trucks will
carry to processing centers and return with finished goods. In
this scene from the General Motors Futurama "ride into tomorrow"
at the New York World's Fair the highway takes the place of the
river as the new jungle thoroughfare.
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...and offering to us
all enchanting tours through the storybook forests of tropic
lands.
- MOBILE, SELF-PROPELLED
HOMES provide workers a haven from equatorial heat and humidity
while a road-building machine create a multi-lane super highway
of concrete and steel in one continuous operation through the
heart of the jungle. These trailer homes of the future feature
expandable compartments which, when extended, enlarge the living
area to 400 sq. ft. The units move with the progress of the road-builder
providing living quarters for five persons. These and many other
vehicles feature dramatic and exciting styling innovations by
the General Motors styling staff in the GM Futurama "ride
into tomorrow" at the New York World's Fair.
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And for our deserts a
new technology: waters from the sea made fresh as rain to nourish
crops planted in the sand.
- A FOOD PROCESSING
PLANT stands amidst the once-barren sands of the desert which
are made to bloom with desalted sea-water brought over the mountains
by atomic-powered pumps within the General Motors Futurama ride
at the New York World's Fair. Highly-sophisticated farming and
processing techniques, coupled with rapid rail and roadway transportation,
are expected to reduce drastically the time between farm field
and dining room tables.
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Produce from seed to shipment,
programmed and processed by a new agriculture.
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A science of plenty for
an ever growing world.
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THE
DRAB EXPANSE of the barren desert is broken by the lush green
of ripening crops and the sparkling machinery of an automated
farm in this scene from the Genera Motors Futurama "ride
into tomorrow" at the New York World's Fair. Transportation
innovations such as the containerized trains at the tunnel mouth
(upper right) promise overnight delivery of farm products to
metropolitan markets. In foreground are solar units providing
auxiliary electrical power and (above them) a rotating irrigation
system utilizing desalted sea water.
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People live today where
they will, neither terrain nor distance a deterrent to where
the men of the city build their homes.
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A
CIRCULAR SWIMMING POOL becomes an integral part of this futuristic
home displayed in the General Motors Futurama ride at the New
York World's Fair. The garage at right contains an electronic
auto repair center; household service facilities are located
in theater; moving walls enclose the open-air kitchen in inclement
weather.
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...as the Continental
Highway now leads us to the city of tomorrow.
(note the Ride Train passing
in front of the scene)
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Plazas of urban living
rise over freeways.
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Vehicles, electronically
paced, travel routes remarkably safe, swift and efficient.
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Towering terminals serve
sections of the city; make public transportation more convenient;
provide ample space for private cars.
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- Source: GM Archival Photographs
- Source: Gallery presented courtesy of
Bradd Schiffman, John Karpiscak & Ray Dashner
- Source:
GM Publicity Text
provided courtesy of Ray Dashner
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Futurama's orbiting
space station...
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...Underwater
hotel
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A freight terminal
in the jungle...
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...the City
of Tomorrow
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Source: "The
World of Tomorrow" © 1970 McGraw-Hill, Author- Goldstein
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Presented courtesy
of John Karpiscak
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