Welcome to Zoopraxiscope Hall
Come see flickering images about the 1893 World’s Fair
on the big and small screen
DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT THE 1893 WORLD’S FAIR
- “Chicago: City of the Century Part 3” American Experience Season 5 (PBS, 2003). IMDB; Amazon
- EXPO – Magic of the White City (Inecom Entertainment Company, 2005). Amazon (DVD and streaming); NETFLIX
- Madness in the White City (National Geographic, 2007). IMDB
- “World’s Fair Treasure Hunt” segment in Hidden Chicago with Geoffrey Baer (WTTW-11, 2014) Amazon
- Vintage Chicago: The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair 22 min. (Jonathan Chase Cook, 2017) Amazon video
DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT PEOPLE OF THE 1893 WORLD’S FAIR
- Tesla: Master of Lightning (PBS, 2000). IMDB; YouTube
- Tall: The American Skyscraper and Louis Sullivan (2006). IMDB
- “Annie Oakley” American Experience Season 8, Episode 12 (PBS, 2006). IMDB
- Westinghouse (2008). IMDB; YouTube
- “Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Master of American Sculpture” American Masters (PBS, 2009) IMDB; Amazon
- Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City (PBS, 2010) IMDB: Amazon
- Louis Sullivan: The Struggle for American Architecture (Whitecap Films, 2010). IMDB; Amazon
- Love Under Fire: The Story of Bertha and Potter Palmer (Corn Bred Films, 2013) IMDB; Amazon
- Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America (PBS, 2014)
- “Black Heart, White City” American Ripper Season 1, Episode 5 (History Channel, 2017)
- The Fabulous Bertha Palmer (Sarasota Fringe Films, c2018); Vimeo
- Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond the Mask (Ohio University Press, 2018) Amazon
- 1893 Chicago’s Columbian Exposition (Michael Finney, 2020) Amazon
FILMING THE FAIRGROUNDS: FICTIONAL WORKS SET AT THE FAIR
- The Great Ziegfeld (MGM, 1936). IMDB
- “The Longest Beard in the World” Death Valley Days, Season 4, Episode 20 (1956). IMDB
- “The World’s Columbian Exposition” Timeless Season 1, Episode 11. (NBC, 2017). IMDB
- The Current War (2017). IMDB
- Tesla (2020). IMDB
- “Sister Rising” American Gods Season 3, Episode 5. (Starz, 2021). IMDB
- “1893” Loki Season 2, Episode 3 (Disney+, 2023). IMDB
H. H. HOLMES and THE WORLD’S FAIR
- “Chicago’s White City Devil” Murderous History, Season 1, Episode 1 (Smithsonian Channel, 2021) IMDB
OTHER
- The Surging Sea of Humanity (2006). 10:41 min. silent film based on a stereoscope card of the World’s Fair. WorldCat
RECENT POSTS ABOUT VIDEO, FILM, AND TELEVISION
Weinstein, War, and the White City
The 1893 World’s Fair has made small guest appearances on the big screen and small screen, but has yet to be a major featured setting for a film or television series. The 2005 documentary film EXPO – Magic of the White City, narrated by Gene Wilder, (link to online video) uses still images of the Columbian Exposition along with video footage (oddly chosen, in some cases) to tell the story of the history of the fair. Advances in computer-generated graphics offer filmmakers unprecedented opportunities to recreate the spectacle of the White City, and many Columbian Exposition enthusiasts have been [...]
Nov. 16, 2017: “Making a New American Nutcracker” documentary premiers
The Joffrey Ballet's spectacular new production of The Nutcracker, which Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon re-imagined taking place on the fairgrounds of the Columbian Exposition in the winter of 1892 (see our other post here), is the subject of a new documentary titled "Making a New American Nutcracker." Produced by Daniel Andries and narrated by actress Neve Campbell, the documentary will premiere on Thursday, November 16, at 8:00 pm on Chicago's WTTW11 and on wttw.com. Other PBS stations may pick up the show for broadcast in December 2017 (check your local listings). BroadwayWorld.com reports that: "'Making a New American Nutcracker' takes [...]