Made for visitors as a souvenir, this short, color silent film was sold at the gift shop of the Miami Seaquarium and was likely released in the mid-to-late 1960s. It appears to feature Hugo, the park’s original orca, who died in 1980 after an accident in his tank. Located near downtown Miami, the Seaquarium is a 38-acre oceanarium located on the island of Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay. It was founded in 1955, and at the time was the largest marine-life attraction in the world. From 1963 through 1967, eighty-eight episodes of the 1960s TV show Flipper and two movies starring Flipper were filmed at the Miami Seaquarium.
Opening title: World’s Greatest Sea Show (:06-:12). An orca whale, probably Hugo, splashes in the water. The whale fetches an oar, gets near a man in a boat and flips him over to the delight of the crowd. The man rides the whale. The whale nods at a trainer. The trainer puts his head in the mouth of the whale (:13-1:26). The trainer rides the whale around. Two whales jump up and touch a ball with their noses, splash down into the water. A sign reads: Welcome to the “Flipper” Movie and TV Set. A dolphin splashes its trainer. A woman throws a small object into the water, the dolphin retrieves it for her. The dolphin stands up on its tail and then does a trick. The dolphin brings the trainer an object (1:27-3:09). The dolphin slides towards the trainer and sits with the trainer. The dolphin jumps over the swimming trainer. dolphin and woman splash one another. Woman trainer kisses the dolphin. Woman waves and then the dolphin waves his fin goodbye (3:10-4:06). A man enters the water in a diving helmet. Fish swim all around him. An eel swims about. A seahorse. A crab walks. An octopus. Groups of fish swim (4:07-5:43). Long and tall fish swim. Sea turtles. A man feeds the fish. A seal climbs a ladder on one side and goes down the other while balancing a ball. He tosses the ball to a trainer. The seal presses buttons. Seal swims fast and jumps onto the land. Seal balances a cup on a stick and then kisses a man (5:44-7:33). Two dolphins pull a woman who wears giant skis. Dolphin brings a ball to a man. Dolphin bowls a ball. Dolphins jump over a stick that is raised. Dolphin jumps through a circle. A seal claps. A fish is lowered into a shark pit. The shark bites the fish (7:34-9:03). Sharks eat the fish being lowered. Dolphins jump over bars and then high into the air. Dolphins stand up on their tails and go backwards. Dolphins jump high into the air and grab a treat. Dolphin tosses a ring. Dolphin jumps, grabs a treat (9:04-10:03
End credits (10:04-10:10).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
