''Design for Dreaming'' is a 1956 industrial short or

sponsored film Sponsored film, or ephemeral film, as defined by film archivist Rick Prelinger, is a film made by a particular sponsor for a specific purpose other than as a work of art: the films were designed to serve a specific pragmatic purpose for a limited ...

produced to accompany the

General Motors Motorama The General Motors Motorama was an auto show staged by General Motors, GM from 1949 to 1961. These automobile extravaganzas were designed to whet public appetite and boost automobile sales with displays of fancy concept cars and other special or h ...

show that year. A

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

with voiceover dialogue, it features a woman (danced by

Tad Tadlock Thelma "Tad" TadlockAdditional on April 28, 2018. (January 19, 1931 – December 8, 2000) was an American dancer and choreographer known for her work in television, Broadway theater, and movies, including starring in the General Motors sponsor ...

and voiced by Marjorie Gordon) who dreams about a masked man (danced by

Marc Breaux Marc Breaux (November 3, 1924 – November 19, 2013) was an American choreographer and occasional film director best known for his work on musical films of the 1960s and 1970s. Most of his well-known work was in collaboration with Dee Dee Wood to ...

and sung by Joseph Lautner) taking her to the Motorama at the

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

and to

Frigidaire Frigidaire Appliance Company is the American consumer and commercial home appliances brand subsidiary of multinational company Electrolux. Frigidaire was founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and developed the fi ...

's " Kitchen of the Future". The film begins in the woman's bedroom, with the masked man suddenly appearing. He then takes her to the Motorama. After looking at several cars including

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctive ...

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it pro ...

, and

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed ...

s, she is taken to the "kitchen of the future", where she bakes a cake. She then goes back to the Motorama and dances the "dance of tomorrow". After looking at more cars, she and her masked man (who unmasks himself) travel on the "road of tomorrow" in the "

Firebird II The General Motors Firebird comprises a quartet of prototype cars that General Motors (GM) engineered for the 1953, 1956, and 1959 Motorama auto shows. The cars' designers, headed by Harley Earl, took Earl's inspiration from the innovations in fi ...

." In the late 20th century the film emerged as a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

, appreciated as an epitome of mid-century corporate futurism.

History

The film was produced and directed by Victor Solow for MPO Productions, stars

and

, and features the voice of

Thurl Ravenscroft Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (; February 6, 1914May 22, 2005) was an American actor and bass singer. He was known as one of the booming voices behind Kellogg's Frosted Flakes animated spokesman Tony the Tiger for more than five decades. He was al ...

. The original music was by Sol Kaplan. It was shot in

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ed ...

Anscocolor. GM sponsored a sequel, ''

A Touch of Magic ''A Touch of Magic'' (1961) is a cult-classic General Motors sponsored-film short musical. The film begins with a designer at the drawing board, daydreaming about a 1920s couple who travel to the Middle Ages; the Man saves the Woman from a wiz ...

'', for the last Motorama in 1961.

In popular culture

The short was included in a fifth-season episode of the television series ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1 ...

''.''Mystery Science Theater 3000'', "

12 to the Moon ''12 to the Moon'' is a 1960 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film, produced and written by Fred Gebhardt, directed by David Bradley and starring Ken Clark, Michi Kobi, Tom Conway and Anna-Lisa. The film was distri ...

" .24 February 5, 1994. In a related comedy sketch, the unnamed female lead is given the name "Nuveena, the Woman of the Future", and portrayed by

Bridget Jones Nelson Bridget Jones Nelson ( Jones; born September 24, 1964), also credited as simply Bridget Jones or Bridget Nelson, is an American screenwriter and actor for ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. She worked as a contributing writer for the show before ...

, who reprised the role in a handful of sketches in subsequent episodes. The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

documentary series ''

Pandora's Box Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem '' Works and Days''. Hesiod reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing phy ...

'' by

Adam Curtis Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is an English documentary filmmaker. Curtis began his career as a conventional documentary producer for the BBC throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The release of '' Pandora's Box'' (1992) marked t ...

made extensive use of clips from ''Design for Dreaming'', especially in the title sequence. Excerpts from this

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

film also were featured in

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ...

's '' Capitalism: A Love Story''. Part of the film, with dialogue, is played during the opening titles for ''

The Hills Have Eyes ''The Hills Have Eyes'' is an American Horror film, horror franchise that consists of four horror films, as well as a graphic novel and Product (business), merchandise. The first film was released in 1977, ''The Hills Have Eyes (1977 film), The ...

''. Some snippets (without dialogue) are played in the video watched by

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...

during his physical in ''

The Game The Game or The Games may refer to: Sports and games * The Game (dice game) (German: ''Das Spiel''), a dice game designed by Reinhold Wittig * The Game (mind game), a mind game, the objective of which is to avoid thinking about The Game itself * ...

'' and in the opening titles for ''

The Stepford Wives ''The Stepford Wives'' is a 1972 satirical "feminist horror" novel by Ira Levin. The story concerns Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer, wife and young mother who suspects that something in Stepford's environment is changing the wives fr ...

'' (2004). Some footage was also used in the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

's 1987 single "

In Your Eyes IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

's 1989 music video for " Superconductor", a 1989 commercial for the Nintendo Game Boy game ''

Super Mario Land ''Super Mario Land'' is a 1989 side-scrolling platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch game for its Game Boy handheld game console. It is the first ''Mario'' platform game to have been released for a handheld co ...

'', a 1994 commercial for

Power Macintosh The Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer as the core of the Macintosh brand from March 1994 until August 2006. Described by ''MacWorld'' as "the most important te ...

, and during

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the ban ...

concert performances.

Voices

as Woman *

as Man *

as Singer

References

* *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Design For Dreaming General Motors Sponsored films Promotional films 1956 musical films 1956 short films 1956 films Films about automobiles 1950s English-language films American short films

History

In popular culture

Voices

See also

References

External links