The World of Tomorrow

It’s fun to chuckle while watching old and errant predictions of the future, like this one of Disney’s House of the Future. After watching a few of these videos, I have decided that the thing I miss most about the future-that-didn’t happen isn’t so much the jetpack or the silvery jumpsuits, but the chirpy background music. The voice-over is so close to self-parody that I can’t help being charmed: “While Father has a quick electronic shave… Junior brightens up ‘here and there’ with the electric toothbrush!” Here’s a longer and more informative promotional video. The repetitive bragging about plastics isn’t surprising given that the house’s sponsor is the Monsanto Chemical Company’s Plastics Division. But just imagine how the same premise would be received today. Start packing, sweetie! A giant chemical corporation is building us a plastic house! [cue music]

But suppose we uncovered an old prediction that got the future exactly right. What would that look like? Maybe something like this: The Astounding World of the Future.

I love the stress that the announcer puts on the words: “You’re welcome Mr. Robot Banker! Have a nice day!” It’s easy to do a bad world-of-the-future parody, but this is very well done and worth watching all the way through. And they got the music right too. (spotted on Steve Crandall’s blog)