Former traditional American amusement park "Dorney Park" is nicely shown in this 1968 scene from "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows"
The Pennsylvanian Park opened in 1864, over a hundred years before this footage was taken.
Exactly twenty years later, John Waters used the park as background for his original version of "Hairspray". Titled "Tilted Acres" for the movie, they rebuild the big clown-face and tried to conjure a certain sixties feeling. Waters definately saw the above film.
Instead of funseeking nuns, Waters gave us Debbie Harry and Sonny Bono as a racist white-trash couple, the late Divine in one of his rare male roles and a Bergmann-esque vomit-scene in a kiddie-carroussel.
See it somewhere in this clip - which actually reminded me how good the first "Hairspray" really is!
Another twenty years later and Dorney Park is owned by corporate-chain "Cedar Fair". The park is not a gem but there are still many of the classic old rides left (The Whip, Monster, etc.) This is how it looks today.
2008-06-23
Dorney Park 40, 20, 2 years ago
Labels:
americana,
amusement parks,
datestamp,
divine,
funtopia,
john waters
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2 comments:
Where Angels Go Trouble Follows, attending Catholic School I am all too familiar with this film, it is laser etched into my brain! Anyway, I've been to Dorney Park and despite the video, it still has some of the old character left if you know where to look. Kennywood outside of Pittsburgh retains it's history a bit better, good mix of the old with the new, and the owners use and highlight it's skeleton with just the right amount of nostalgia.
You are right about Kennywood. It is one of the last "real" traditional american amusement parks. It is comparable to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and the original Tivoli in Copenhagen.
You might have heard that Kennywood was just purchased by a spanish amusement park chain. Although theyt tend to leave their purchases pretty much on their own, many people are worried that they will only serve paella in the future. You know...
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