GREETINGS FROM FORGOTTEN FLORIDA (TV)
Summary
This televised documentary special explores the history of some of Florida's lesser-known tourist attractions. Florida currently sees fifty million tourists per year, a third of whom visit Walt Disney World and its surrounding parks. The state boasts other "goofy" attractions, however, and was originally known as a place to hunt and fish after joining the union in 1845. Gary Mormino explains that it also served as a "vast sanitarium" for those with consumption, and that during the Gilded Age only the wealthy had the time and money for vacations. Rival developers Henry Bradley Plant and Henry Morrison Flagler built hotels and other attractions along the coasts, and in the years following WWI, automobiles allowed the lower classes to visit the state via scenic roads. Many stayed on campgrounds with free water and electricity, creating a phenomenon known as "tin-can tourism." Vendors began creating eye-catching roadside attractions to make money from travelers, and Silver Springs gained fame for its glass-bottomed boats on St. Johns River. Grace DuMond and her granddaughter Sharon discuss the creation of their family's small park, Monkey Jungle, at which the tourists are caged and the animals allowed to roam free.
Patrick Callan describes Parrot Jungle, another animal-themed park boasting over 1,000 birds, and Mormino talks about famed developer and "salesman" Richard Pope, who created the theme park known as Cypress Gardens, among other things. Bill Upson explains that Marineland was the first "oceanarium" that allowed visitors to view and film sea life in a naturalistic setting, pulling water from the ocean itself for its tanks. After WWII, Americans had even more free time and money, and Miami became the number-one hot vacation spot. Grace's son Frank traveled to Peru and brought back some ideas, as well as plant seeds, for creating a mini-rainforest at Monkey Jungle. Nancy Jane Berens and her husband "Jungle" Larry Tetzlaff created Caribbean Gardens originally in Ohio, and then began giving detailed nature tours in their park in Florida. Their son David describes how their park had more room for the animals than did most zoos of the era, and Nancy notes that they never felt as though they truly "owned" the animals. Val Valentine talks about building a working volcano replica and waterfall at Jungle Land, complete with a performing alligator, and Tim Hollis highlights Goofy Golf, Lee Koplin's famous miniature golf course. Son Randy explains that his father channeled his nightmares about enormous creatures into the course's friendly oversized sculptures, and Hollis adds that Koplin also managed a "ghost town" park, Tombstone Territory, a detailed replica of an old "wild west" main street.
Animal trainer Tom DeVoe discusses his long career at Marineland and the even-longer career of Nellie, a popular dolphin performer. Callan recalls that Parrot Jungle gained particular fame after Winston Churchill stopped by to do a bit of painting, and trainer Hilda Buhler introduces Pinkie, the famous 58-year-old "semi-retired" parrot who still occasionally performs her bicycle-riding routine. Callan explains how he fell into a photography career and recorded waterskiing shows at Cypress Gardens before doing PR for Pope, adding that the park was also known for its "wholesome" bikini-clad female workers. Elsewhere, Newton Perry created the "mermaid show" at the Weeki Wachee park, and performer Mary Fletcher recalls trying out at age fifteen and earning a spot as one of the swimmers. Over time, the speedy interstate highways rendered the scenic routes obsolete, and Florida's "big bang" occurred in 1971 with the opening of Disney World. DeVoe and the others admit that the park's opening was "depressing" for many of the smaller venues, but some of the parks remain open, including Goofy Golf and Parrot Jungle. Callan comments on his pride at seeing multiple generations enjoying the park, and Sharon explains that her monkeys survived 1992's Hurricane Andrew, though the park has become more "sensitive" to humane methods over the years. David Tetzlaff discusses his decision to continue the family business and work with the animals, stressing the park's "conservation message" and educational bent. Joe Mayernick of Marineland adds that he and the other workers are more interested in the animals than in money, and David, Sharon and Berens agree that their humbler, family-run parks have a different "heart" than the bigger corporate parks of Disney, concluding that families will always be interested in a smaller, more "intimate" experience. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: February 29, 2000
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:42
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:75704
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; Travel; Florida
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV, 2000
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Andrew Walworth … Executive Producer
- Robert Schurgin … Producer, Director
- Brittany Huckabee … Co-Producer
- Ray Suarez … Narrator
- Tim Hollis … Interviewee
- Gary Mormino … Interviewee
- Sharon DuMond … Interviewee
- Grace DuMond … Interviewee
- Patrick Callan … Interviewee
- Bill Upson … Interviewee
- Nancy Jane Berens … Interviewee
- David Tetzlaff … Interviewee
- Val Valentine … Interviewee
- Randy Koplin … Interviewee
- Tom DeVoe … Interviewee
- Hilda Buhler … Interviewee
- Mary Fletcher … Interviewee
- Joe Mayernick … Interviewee
- Henry Bradley Plant
- Henry Morrison Flagler
- Richard Pope
- Larry Tetzlaff
- Lee Koplin
- Winston Churchill
- Newton Perry