Design for Dreaming (1956)

Set at the 1956 General Motors Motorama, this is one of the key Populuxe films of the 1950s, showing futuristic dream cars and Frigidaire's "Kitchen of the Future."

[@downeast45]

This was a film used to promote GM's huge touring "Motorama" show. My dad took me to it when I was 11 years old. To a kid who was into 1950 science fiction, this show was pure magic. My memories are of the "cars of the future," the kitchen of tomorrow, and the unbelievable, it drives itself, Firebird II. These were heady post-war years. Lots of money around and imported autos weren't even on the horizon.

[@silverlinings8240]

I wish I had a kitchen that would magically bake me a cake that's already frosted and with lit candles.

[@palebeachbum]

"Hey lady, your apron is showing!" " I better get her to the kitchen quick!" LMAO

[@BXVAce]

Tater tots are burning!

[@georgemartin1436]

For the time, and considering this is a movie short from a car company, the production quality is tremendous.

[@PUBNave]

The main dancer has some amazing moves. I must be easily amazed, but she did a lot of moving!

[@yeetyeet1727]

Exactly what I was thinking. Especially when she said "I'm exhausted!"

[@RRVCrinale]

I wish Tuxedo Kamen would whisk me to the next auto show I attend, too.

[@MrKenichi22]

You realized that to! Yeah, I would love to go on an Auto show too. But I think Usagi would be Jelous.

[@kimdkus]

Um, I'll take one of each car and the kitchen. And the bedroom and all the clothes, Thank you.

[@guyazbell8169]

kimdkus I am not sure but I think that's why I am on wifey number 47.

[@GioveseSan]

I have a Polaroid photograph of my mother basting a Thanksgiving turkey from about this time, and she has the same Leslie Caron pixie cut! Wow...

[@ILOVEMYSUNGLASSES]

What a wonderful piece of art. =)

[@TheExodvs]

I (eventually) got here from Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes."

[@iMernerner]

Retro- futuristic. So beautiful

[@TruthOldSchoolStyle]

the Firebird looks like the car that Homer Simpson designed

[@MrKenichi22]

yes, it dose

[@klokibril]

I would kill for that Oldsmobile Golden Rocket's or that blue Impala....

[@musicgroovin]

Jeepers. That Firebird II is the most futuristic dreamy vehicle. Simply dreamy.

[@eazystreet5507]

The highway of tomorrow will be one big traffic jam.

[@MrKenichi22]

Yes it will.

[@sammclennan3661]

'The electric highway of the future'. 60 years later we're still waiting for it...

[@ALLthedogz]

enjoyable trip back to 1956--time travel retro

[@anaktis]

I don't know, I actually could go for a futuristic dome-oven.

[@kimdkus]

Not to mention the whole kitchen!!

[@anibalbabilonia1867]

Man! The future sure looks bright😀👍

[@jeffjohnston790]

That dream seems more like an eerie nightmare. Gota luv it.

[@TheDejael]

Corny and kitschy as entertainment, this film only succeeds as a colorful surreal dream of the possible future in an ideal world, with beautiful finned advanced dream cars and homes laden with every modern convenience. The female dancer is truly mesmerizing. What it does show clearly is the wide-eyed optimism of the mid-1950s General Motors Advanced Design Studio at GM Technical Center at Warren, Michigan. My favorite is the Pontiac Club de Mer, a Pontiac version of the Corvette. The turbine-jet powered Firebird II is also a fantastic design.

[@rareblues78daddy]

Poor woman. She even has to bake in her dreams. At least she got a Cadillac! Also, the highway of tomorrow seems to just be a gigantic loop that goes nowhere.

[@scotpens]

Apparently the future will have a lot of dry-ice fog. The Oldsmobile Golden Rocket looks as if it should have a shark's mouth painted on the front.

[@rodblaine999]

didn't the future look so bright, according to the magazines of the 1950's we should all be living in colonys on the moon or cities under the sea, where did it all go wrong

[@hurricanefury439]

Hippies and nihilism that's what went wrong

[@PhiloBedo]

Nixon gutting NASA in the early 70s

[@michaelcornett444]

Moon colonies have a problem with the low gravity doing a number on your bones and muscles, and radiation exposure thanks to the lack of atmosphere. Underwater colonies are too high-maintenance to keep them from being crushed by water pressure. Neither dream was very practical.

[@pencilneckgeek1842]

@@hurricanefury439 nah it's people like you who don't know what the fuck they are talking about

[@chrisdaigle3588]

@@hurricanefury439 Greedy self important narcissists run our lives that's what went wrong

[@GoblinXXX]

I'm sure we'll have an oven that can bake, frost, and put candles on a cake (AND light them) by the time we can call our houses on the phone and tell the oven to start-- Which AT&T has been promising us for at least 50 years. (And I've still never heard anyone express a desire for it.)

[@wellofbeersheba]

That Firebird 2 is pretty fancy - I can imagine me using a week's wages to start it up.

[@bluevelvetcocaine]

LIKES TO WATCH ME IN THE GLASS ROOM BATHROOM CHATEAU MARMONT SLIPPIN ON MY RED DRESS PUTTIN ON MY MAKEUP GLASS ROOM PERFUME COGNAC LILAC FUMES SAYS IT FEELS LIKE HEAVEN TO HIM

[@localshithead7430]

L I G H T O F M Y L I F E

[@deividchg]

FIRE OF MY LOINS

[@person1232]

KEEP ME FOREVER TELL ME YOU WANT ME

[@ricardorodrigues7304]

simplesmente maravilhoso, parabéns.

[@TimothyForbesXXI]

Tad Tadlock's dance at 5:14 seems to be one inspiration for Suzanne Lloyd's dance in 1959's "Perchance To Dream" episode of The Twilight Zone, and this is all from the same era. She was one ultra-cool dancer and performer, and I am sorry we lost her in 2000. As for the video itself, it is the product of its time. Though unrealistic, the production values are fun in themselves!

[@MrGlenbw]

6:54 - GRRRRRRRRR!!!

[@dhpbear2]

Graceful?

[@Tareltonlives]

When Crow did that I cracked up

[@wstine79]

"In the Honeymooners."

[@cbi1991]

girls don't go to motorama in a pair of pink pajamas

[@jaguarjaguarjaguarja]

The Gernsback Continuum! The future that never was. Pretty tragic that the real future didn't come out the way they thought it would be.

[@The_Bermuda_Nonagon]

Yeah yeah General Motors, I'm still a Ford Nucleon man myself. :D

[@ingreaterdetail]

all this technology now is supposed to make it easier for people to do these things, but we inherently developed a fixation with it, so much that we cant put it away to actually DO those things.

[@BoingotheClown]

The highway of tomorrow will be a slot car track?

[@walterbrob]

I want that Corvette too!!

[@fjbutch]

Well, that was interesting!

[@hialeahe]

LOL, hey your apron is showing, quick get her to the kitchen XD awesome video thanks for posting

[@jasoncarpp7742]

I love the Buick Centurion. It's too bad Buick didn't use the grille from the show car for the 1957 or 58 production car.

[@msteven515]

Pretty surreal.

[@dieguito7797]

More and more I'm forgetting the past More and more I'm livin' at last Day by day I'm losin' my blues More and more I'm forgettin' 'bout you But oh how I tried to keep you by my side And oh how I cried the day you said goodbye Day by day I'm losin' my blues More and more I'm forgettin' 'bout you But oh how I tried to keep you by my side And oh how I cried the day you said goodbye Day by day I'm losin' my blues More and more I'm forgettin' 'bout you

[@1_800_Drewidia]

"Better get her to the kitchen. Quick!" Oddly prophetic...

[@JediPhoenix1976]

0:50 - "All my instincts, they return. The grand facade so soon will burn...."

[@DPO263]

@ILOVEMYSUNGLASSES Interesting that you should say that. This has recently been shown on Classic Arts Showcase.

[@holbrooke7]

Here because of MST3K.

[@kimdkus]

Me too.

[@fixman88]

Me also.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

I'm here because of "The Many Voices of Thurl Ravenscroft," a Disney Legend, but who was best known as the voice of Tony the tiger from Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.

[@Tareltonlives]

Pregnant woman and schnauzer optional

[@tourover9249]

It's too hard not to laugh because of them.

[@tylermanning2848]

I'm here because of Adam Curtis!

[@tourover9249]

LOOK OUT, IT'S A SALUTE TO Mr B Natural!!

[@analogkid01]

That's grrrrrrrrrrreat!

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

The only reference to Thurl Ravenscroft that I have seen!

[@dhpbear2]

4:34 - "Jeepers! I'm exhausted" Not EVERYONE dances around their kitchen :)

[@SqeakyToy]

Fun film to watch in 2017. Buick Centurian and Olds Golden Rocket both hideous as is the Pontiac Club de Mer. Chevy Impala looks good.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

The Impala looked like a Corvette sedan.

[@ewangodin6768]

AAAAAhh j'aurais tellement voulus avoir vécus dans les années 50 en Amérique!!!!

[@TheDorkEvilOne]

Bizarrrrre. This got sampled in Bowie and the Pet Shop Boys video for the "Hallo Spaceboy" remix (1995).

[@yourhighness336]

so valid.

[@diasirea]

my thought exactly

[@DavidStanleymusic]

To think that GM had 76% of the car market in their pocket ,what happened?

[@HowardPrice]

I hate the sexism but I judge that by today’s standards. It is good that these pieces of pop culture history are preserved though, even if it’s only so we can learn the errors of your previous ways.

[@Naminski1a]

8:52 - This footage was reused for Super Mario Land on Game Boy commercial.

[@liddlebopeep]

@FIREBIRDC9 Too bad GM couldn't forsee it's own dark future back in 1956: Vega, Ventura, Cavalier, Firenza, 6000, Astre, Monza, Cobalt, Ciera, Celebrity, Cimarron, Sunbrid, Aztek, Trans Sport, Fiero, Achieva, Grand Am, Corsica, Beretta, Lumina, etc.

[@theneutraldoctor]

Adam Curtis documentaries brought me here!

[@collinriley4976]

So horrible it is fascinating.

[@MrKenichi22]

Tuxedo Mask Broke in?

[@kitkatpattywhack]

Ha! The cake scene was in the opening credits to the Hills have eyes. Now I know where it came from!

[@styldsteel1]

Does anyone know where and shorts like this one would have been shown? I'm guessing at the Motoramas there were mini-walk-in "movie theaters. In my humble opinion Thanx

[@francotirador7265]

Oh, she's been singing for two hours !

[@stingme88x]

@DPO263 ah i saw it there too, its what brought me here(:

[@kerryincolumbus]

LMAO!! I was asking myself that exact same thing, VERY odd indeed !

[@ForeverMrZaphaell]

* drools excessively *

[@2right4words]

True cars of the Future will have Magnetic gyros instead of wheels that Cancel gravity and propel the car. There will Only be a Joystick in between the front seats to steer and brake the vehicle, which would allow a driver to operate the car from the Right or Left hand. This will make it a Real World car that wouldn't even have to be adapted for the handicapped.

[@swabby429]

We never did get the space-age cake maker nor the kitchen. It would have been great if GM had actually built the Impala like the one on stage.

[@seatlbob]

The Phantom of the Opera announces 1956 GM cars.

[@dhpbear2]

3:50 - "No need for the bride to feel tragic, the rest is push-button magic" :)

[@Stan-fs2ji]

Just make sure you've got plenty of C size batteries!

[@PianoMelodicaDark]

Crow T. Robot: "HRRRRRRRRRRRGH...GRRRRRAAARRRRRRRRRRGH!!!"

[@wallybloom1]

@RossiniSoprano I think it's Keely Smith, popular Vegas lounge entertainer and recording artist during Sinatra's rat pack days.

[@jgrothou]

Tad Tadlock

[@Donnerstag]

@Zelusetradix Same

[@wstine79]

6:40 the Schtick electric razor car.

[@catskinner7608]

are there any copyright issues with this video - I posted a link on FB and UMG are claiming copyright and as a result Facebook have blocked it ???

[@MerleOberon]

I just noticed the '56 Cadillac did not have wide white-walls, it was the future...

[@arthureus]

the only thing they got it right was the highway somewhat like that

[@warrenclarkable]

What's an electronic highway?

[@herenciacarclub63]

6:54 into the video !!! the first impala ever !!!!!

[@MerleOberon]

Tad Tadlock rules!

[@zxtenn]

And lets remember the early Toyota's and Datsun's were as basic as you could get and also rust buckets but they got close to 30 mpg and they came at a time when the 1st 'gas shortage' was around the corner, early 70's. I remember sitting around in the mid 70's with some fairly intelligent people thinking by the year 2000 we would no longer have gas, now it's plentiful but 10 x the price then. Let's also remember Toyota and Datsun perfected their cars-- it was a different world then too

[@RossiniSoprano]

The male singer (not the guy on screen) is Howard Keel. I don't recognize the female singer.

[@BXVAce]

6:54 GRRRRRRRRRRR!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR-HRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

[@Caustic13]

Is it Carolyn Jones?

[@krb5292]

Yes. Morticia Addams herself.

[@Tareltonlives]

And Thurl Ravenscroft

[@Dreayillean]

this video have zero dislike :O!

[@FIREBIRDC9]

I want England to make more affordable cars! My country seems to be one of the only ones that doesn't have a cheap brand!

[@mercartax]

Most Germans cannot afford a VW, too. And lets not speak about Audi, BMW or Mercedes.

[@drgabe2908]

7:52 kinda looks like a scene from Back to the Future

[@moochincrawdad]

I visited Detroit last year and it was like a ghost town, living proof that everything changes and nothing will last forever.

[@U2XM202]

Better get you back to the kitchen? ':O)

[@rishabhkhatri202]

8:24 nice but no trees no plants That's today

[@02chevyguy]

MerleOberon Buick has always been over Oldsmobile. For as long as I can remember, the line up was Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac.

[@decay21450]

True. I always wondered why Buick wasn't sacked instead of Olds to make the resulting quality spread more even.

[@VinnyDaQ]

02chevyguy It's like the Chrysler line...start with a Plymouth and work your way up thru Dodge, De Soto, and Chrysler to Imperial (until Imperial went back to being the top Chrysler model, not a separate brand).

[@reviewman]

crow was right "just because it's futuristic doesn't me it's practical."

[@isabellebazzi5547]

Here’s from Lana del reys song off to the races live visuals😍

[@DPG2203]

Awesome video. But it have more opinions than likes. Get 👍.

[@kokopelli314]

Does anyone else find the "Tomorrow" song at 8:00 just a little dark and creepy?

[@muvs32pap]

Nothing screams future like a shark fined car with gull-wing doors!

[@LionTribe713]

In your eyes brought me here

[@Lanceisabeach]

To bad it never came true :(

[@tomrdee]

The cars of tomorrow were old looking by 1957

[@MrKenichi22]

Ehh,,, Tomarow 60 years from then will be a nightmare.... perhaps.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

The Cadillac was the only one to make it to production as the '58 Eldorado Brougham, which cost over $10,000 when most cars were $2,000 or so.