Ballooning in the Media

Ballooning does not often show up in the media. However, when it does, you'll hear about it here! If you witness ballooning in the media, and it's not in this list, please send me e-mail so I can add it to the list. This list will be built mostly from reader contributions. Many thanks in advance.

Note: I am updating the entries to show who submitted or updated the information.

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Movies

• The Lost Zeppelin (1929). Anyone considering flying over Antarctica soon should view the movie The Lost Zeppelin from 1929 starring those movie greats Richardo Cortez and Conway Tearle. This may make you think twice about your trip as you witness the captain lose his craft and crew to the weather and his wife to another guy. (from MILWIRON@aol.com on balloon e-mail).
• The Wizard of Oz (1939). The "Wizard" is about to fly Dorothy and Toto back to Kansas in a gas balloon when Toto jumps out of the basket to chase after a cat. Dorothy climbs out after him, and, because of the sudden drop in weight, the balloon takes off without them, possibly stranding them in Oz forever. To bad, chase crews don't have magic shoes to take them right to the landing site!
• Around the World in 80 Days (1956). I haven't seen it yet, but I hear that a gas balloon is used for part of the journey around the world.
• Mysterious Island (1961). In this sequal to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Union prisoners, from the US Civil War, escape in a gas balloon and ultimately find themselves stranded on an island in the South Pacific (shouldn't this have been a record flight?). Unfortunately, this island is populated by giant creatures!
• Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (1965). Features an aerial duel between Gert Frobe and Jean-Pierre Cassel (a German and a Frenchman, of course), piloting helium balloons and armed with blunderbusses. The balloons hover, of course, over a sewage farm. Guess what happens.
• The Great Race (1965). Opens with Tony Curtis performing a Houdini-like stunt by hanging from an aerostat (hot air, but it behaves like a gasbag!) tied in a straightjacket. Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk puncture the balloon with a large arrow. Curtis manages to escape with the aid of a parachute, while Lemmon and Falk get clobbered by the descending balloon. Don't try this at home. (submitted by Martin H. Booda)
• The Blue Max (1966). Features an attack by German Fokker aircraft on a manned, tethered observation gas dirigible. Interestingly, there are no casualties aside from the balloon itself, because the balloon observer parachutes out as the planes approach, and the balloon and planes are at too high an altitude for effective antiaircraft fire. This reflects the typical fixed wing-vs.-aerostat combat of World War I. (from Martin Booda)
• The Assassination Bureau (1969). Features a sequence with German Zeppelins. (from Robert Thomson)
• Zeppelin (1971). The plot had to do with a German attack on a secret British Archives site (in Scotland) by 'sneaking-in' with a Zeppelin-full of commandos, including Michael York (who is really a spy) as guest observer/navigator. York gets wounded twice, but the daughter of the balloon's inventor falls in love with him, and is able to nurse him back to health(?). Unfortunately the English Archives appear to be a complete loss, and the Zeppelin crashes in the English Channel while trying to escape. There was an interesting scene of the English fighter planes trying to shoot down the balloon but 'falling out' of the thinner air at high altitude as the Zeppelin ascends to avoid pursuit. (from Michael J. Moran)
• Bobby Deerfield (1977). I can go back further than that to the movie that got me interested in ballooning iin the first place, it was the late 70'S, the lead actor was Al Pachino, it was called Bobby Dearfield. I think it was a Cameron and was possibly the first modern hot air balloon I had seen. (from Frank Kenney on balloon e-mail)
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978). There is, of course, the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band balloon which is, apparently being flown today (1995). (from Rollie Little)
• Airport '79 (1979). One of the string of awful airline disaster flicks from the 1970's, this one featured a hot air balloon attempting to block the landing of the Concorde. The Concorde almost collides with the balloon, and, of course, the balloon is not affected. I haven't actually seen this one, so I'll add more details when I get a chance.
• H.O.T.S. (1979). At the risk of seeming to be politically incorrect, there is a great hot air balloon sequence in the old drive-in movie, teen sexplotation flic "H.O.T.S.". (from Dan Griffin on balloon e-mail)
• Green Ice (1981). Okay, stretch your memory back a dozen or so years. The movie "Green Ice" had a group of jewel thieves gaining access to the roof of a building using several Colt Cloudhoppers. (Yes, this movie was before the Thunder & Colt merger.) I had just recently started ballooning and several people asked me if such a balloon system was real. Of course they were, I had, by then personally see 2 or 3 hang balloons. (from Dan Griffin on balloon e-mail)
• Hot Heir (1982). A saga about a rich old man who would disinherit his son unless the son won a balloon competition. The movie was filmed by Earl Owensby of North Carolina fame (Shelby), and was the impetus for the birth of Freedom Weekend Aloft in Greenville, SC USA. (update by Gene Funderburk)
• Yes, Giorgio (1982). My favorite balloon sequence is in this movie with Luciano Pavarotti playing, you guessed it, an opera singer. The movie has a good food fight, some great scenes of the star singing from an open Rolls driving through picturesque Italian villages, and then a really nice balloon sequence ballooning through the Napa Valley. After a really beautiful flight with tricky helecopter shots, the balloon lands at the hero's vinyard. The pilot throws out a couple of little sand bags tied to strings, and the Great One leaps out to greet his friends, also the wind is blowing all over the place. That landing was the only phoney part of the whole sequence. If someone that size had lept out of a real balloon, it would have lurched all the way to Sacramento. (from Dan Fitzjarrald on balloon e-mail)
• A Taste of Money (1983). Directed by Richard Mailer, and released by Atom Video. Who can forget this dramatic classic, an X-rated film in which the star, Constance Money, is going down, while the balloon is going up! (It was filmed near San Francisco and I believe the pilot was Mick Farnum). (originally from Michael L. Parks)
• Octopussy (1983). James Bond and Q are in a balloon featuring a high-tech surveilance unit.
• One of the Superman movies (maybe Superman II) apparently features Ms. Crumbaker (?) attempting to spring Lex Luther and Otis from prison by picking them up from a balloon. Due to weight and capacity problems, Otis gets left behind. Anybody have more details about this one?
• Witness (1985). The movie Witness has a young Amish mother and her son on a train to New York City. One of the amazing sights along the way is a tethered Piccard. (from Paul Dobbs)
• Polica Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987). This film used an Aerostar, I believe. They used it to chase some crooks that took off in an airplane, or something like that. I do believe that there were a few shots of other hot air balloons in the movie around the time that they used the main balloon (which was adorned with a banner saying Police Academy). (from Brad C. Tressell on balloon e-mail)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Features a sequence in which Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and his father (Sean Connery) attempt to escape from World War II Berlin via a Zeppelin! (from Robert Thomson, updated by Eric Goodson)
• Slipstream (1989). The end credit sequence of the Mark Hamill film 'Slipstream' features the Andre Heller special shape balloons flying over the Niagara Falls. (from John Andrew)
• Speechless (1994). Also here. Much of this movie was filmed in New Mexico and features a scene where a bunch of balloons are preparing for launch (probably in Albuquerque).
• Family Reunion: A Relative Disaster (1994). Shown on ABC-TV (USA) on 1 April 1995. All in all, this wasn't a very good movie, but it did have a hot-air balloon in it. The movie centers around a family reunion that takes place on the birthday of the family's matriarch, "MeeMaw" (who's turning 100 years old). Well, MeeMaw get's tired of the family squabbles and sneaks out of her birthday party and finds a hot-air balloon tethered out on the golf course (didn't see any chase crew nearby). She bribes the pilot to take her on a flight next. While the pilot is undoing the tie-downs, MeeMaw asks what the red-line and burner controls did. He told her, and just as he released the last tie-down, she starts the burn (she hijacked the balloon)! Later that night, MeeMaw lands in the same field and picks up her great-grandson (who's about 16) and then launches again. The two of them fly on until the next day and, because they are running out of fuel, the land in a nudist colony! The balloon was a 16-gore Balloon Works Firefly with a spiral pattern. It looked like the balloon scenes were filmed in Southern California, but no credit was given in the credits.
• It Could Happen to You (1994). At the end of the film, Charlie (Nicolas Cage) and Yvonne (Bridget Fonda) fly off from Central Park in New York City, NY USA, in a red balloon.
• Jefferson in Paris (1994). Those of you who sit through the recently released (US) 2.5 hour film "Jefferson In Paris" will be rewarded with a three minute segment on the Montgolfier brother's balloon flight. The flight of three barnyard animals, a lamb, a duck, and something else cute (probably a bunny), is recreated from the launch over an insufficiently smokey fire (for my money) to the landing in the French countryside (sans pitchfork-wielding farmer).

  The balloon is featured on the movie's poster - a strangely rounded shape with a long skirt. Turns out the Montgolfier brothers not only pioneered building balloons out of blue nylon, they also invented the parachute top (as evidenced from a balcony shot of the inflated balloon). We don't get to see the actual landing, though, so we can only wonder how Mr. Bunny ripped it out...

  I saw what looked like a French balloon builder in the credits, but it wasn't anyone I'd ever heard of. Anyone else? (from Dan McDonald on balloon e-mail)

  The sequences for this film were done by a company called France Montgolfiers who are based in a quiet little village in northern Burgundy called Vermenton. They are not exactly balloon manufacturers, more a balloon repair station. The envelope used was, I believe, built by Camerons (Alan?). I think France Montgolfier built the basket (actually more of a capsule, being completely enclosed) themselves. The long skirt described hides a circular frame in which is mounted a single propane burner. The burner and parachute controls were operated via radio control.

  France Montgolfier also run a rides business in Burgundy and the Loire and are also able to supply a met/propane/launch site/map service to visiting balloonists. They have a friend with a converted watermill (Le Moulinot) which provides bed, breakfast and launch site. The cost last year was 250 FFrancs per room.

  If the weathers bad (it wasn't great when we went last September) the area is close to the Burgundy vinyards, particularly Chablis which is about 20 Kms East. (update from Andrew Wilcox on balloon e-mail)

• Congo (1995). Features an escape over an erupting volcano via balloon. (Talk about thermals.) (from Martin Booda)
• Waterworld (1995). Haven't seen it yet, but there is a gas balloon of sorts used in this film.

Television

• June 1995 (TBS-USA) - There are some balloons on a commercial advertising the city of Atlanta, Ga. The Commercial can mostly be seen on WTBS or (TBS_TURNER). The shot of balloons are advertising the upcoming balloon rally in Gwinnett Co. (from Mike Bouchillon)
• Family Matters (ABC-USA) - 1 episode - I don't know when this one first appeared but apparently Urkel was trying to help Mr. Winslow overcome his fear of heights, which, you guessed it, leads to a hot-air balloon flight. Unfortunately, Urkel accidentally launches the balloon without the pilot (where's that tie-off when you need it?)!
• MacGyver - I remember the MacGyver episode with the hot air balloon. That was a cool episode. I still remember that after MacGyver ran over this sand dune (with some Arabain (?) cops running after him), he just climbed aboard the hot air balloon and took off. (from Brad C. Tressell on balloon e-mail)
• MacGyver - Actually, I just remembered another episode of MacGyver that used a hot air balloon. He was in Russia trying to locate a U.S. plane that crash landed. He was taking a defector along with him. Well, he came across a lot of nylon, along with a regular old parachute. He made some sort of glue and made a hot air balloon, with burners and all, out of materials that he found around him. Question, though.... did he have a vent? He landed into a bunch of trees, and then managed to land on the ground. (from Brad C. Tressell on balloon e-mail)
• Pepto Bismol commercial. A couple is pondering 8 hours in a balloon wondering if their digestive systems will hold out. (from Sadie35954 on balloon e-mail)
• UNC Public Television aired a program on 25 March 1995 that showed aerial views of various cities and communities across the USA. In the part about St. Louis, MO, there was about a 2 second shot of a hot-air balloon in flight. I don't remember much about it, but I think it was yellow.
• ReMax commercials. Of course, we can't forget ReMax. However, I don't believe ReMax has ever used a real balloon in their commercials. They all appear to be computer generated.
• Taco Bell Commercial (1995). I just saw recently a Taco Bell commercial ("Border Lights") in which part of the commercial was filmed in a hot-air balloon. There are some balloons off in the distance.
• America's Funniest Home Videos (1995-ABC TV USA). On 2 or 3 April 1995, this show has a video clib of a balloon landing on the roof of a car, and apparently doing some good damage (to the car). Anybody see this?
• Search for Adventure (Discovery Channel - USA). An episode of this series featured the Race Across Australia, complete with 20+ knot winds, cactus landings and a high velocity balloon-house collision. (from Martin Booda)
• National Geographic (USA). This series featured a segment about somebody flying in Africa and encountering numerous disasters... jungle landings, envelope falling off of the back of the chase vehicle, hostile tribesmen, etc. I remember that it ended with a breathtaking sequence of the last flight, over Kilimanjaro... that is, only a hundred feet directly over the cone! Anyone seen this? (from Martin Booda)
• American Express Commercial (USA). One of the American Express "Card for Two" ads features a (rather pretty) tableau of four aerostats floating (away?) from an obviously New Mexican roadside crafts store. One arrow points to the store and reads "You are Here" and the other points to one of the balloons and reads "He is Here". Aside from the obvious question of why would one need an American Express card in a balloon, I stridently object to the blatantly anti-crew message implied by this ad! How dare they suggest that crewmembers interrupt their chase to go crafts shopping? (from Martin Booda)
• Monty Python's Flying Circus (BBC-UK, first aired 31 October 1974). Episode 40, called "The Golden Age of Ballooning", featured skits about the Montgolfier Brothers, Louis XVI, George III, and Zeppelin. This information was found in the Monty Python's Flying Circus page!
• Nebraskaland (Nebraska Educational TV - USA). Nebraska Educational TV aired a segment on a now defunct rally called the Trans-Nebraska Balloon Rally. It featured shots of set-up, launch and retrieval from several cities in Nebraska. It was a ten minute piece in a show called NebraskaLand. (from Verle Finke)
• Maury Povich (a TV talk show in USA). There was a recent Maury Povich program (8 or 9 May 1995), that dealt with near death experiences. One segment was about a hot-air balloon pilot who was in contact with powerlines for 45 minutes, and lived to tell about it. I did not see this program myself, but was told about it from several friends. (from Mike Bouchillon)

Music

• From the group Sky - CBS Records, 1985:
  • Album: The Great Balloon Race
    Cover: Balloon - seen from above a strange landscape
    Music type: Jazz
    Songs: Desperate for your love - Allegro - The Land - Peter's Wedding - The Great Balloon Race - The Lady & The Imp - Caldando - Roleystone - Night Sky
  
  (submitted by Evelyn Moeller)

Radio

• no entries yet

Books

• Francis, Dick, Whip Hand (date: ?)
  "Whip Hand" a best-selling thriller by Dick Francis includes a description of a hot-air balloon race, where the hero becomes an unwilling co-pilot. (from Robert Thomson)
• Doyle, Arthur Conan, The Lost World (1912).
  This story features attempts to fly using gas balloons. The entire text of the book can be found here.
• Crichton, Michael, Congo (recent).
  I just finished reading Congo (author: Michael Crichton). The story includes a balloon in the closing. The description of this balloon includes: six "20 cubic foot" (?) propane cylinders; and quoting: "Buoyed by 50,000 pounds of heated air from the propane gas ring, the gleaming plastic sphere of the consortium balloon lifted off from the jungle floor, and climbed swiftly into the darkening night air."

  Also this balloon is described as flying at an altitude of 2000' from its launch point where it catches an "easterly wind" which carries it over the "heart" of an erupting volcano!!! More exciting than most of my flights for sure!! (from Dee Crabtree)

Magazines

• Road & Track, (date unknown, but it was an April issue) Road & Track magazine, in their April issue, always 'road tests' some form of alternative vehicle. One year it was a Greyhound bus, another the Goodyear blimp. Several years ago, they 'tested' Phil Glebe's "Pontiac Excitement" (a Balloon Works AX-7) The story, written by Peter Egan, was both funny and informative for balloon newbees. I'm not sure what year it was, buy I'm sure if you ask Phil, he can tell you. (from Michael L. Parks)
• Reader's Digest, December 1991 (or 1992). Featured an article about a balloon being blown out to sea in Australia. No casualties. (from Martin Booda)
• "Hot-Air Bungi-Mania!, You've Seen Bungi Jumps, But Never From a Balloon!," Stag, October 1992, page 25. Cover promo: "Death Defying Leap Into Hell!". Really strange place for a balloon story! The story is about bungee jumping from tethered a hot-air balloon in Lyon, France, and describes the process. The balloon looks like a older (envelope has steel load cables) Thunder & Colt balloon with a yellow scoop and double burner system.
• Road & Track's Sports & GT Cars, 1995, Special Series, pages 14 and 40. There is a picture of the May Classic held at Conner Prairie over Memorial Day weekend (near Indianapolis, IN).
• Family Circle, 4 April 1995. Featured an article by William Hendryx about the Mike Kirk's power line strike over Louisville, KY USA rush-hour traffic in the Jim Beam shape shape balloon. This article was reprinted in Reader's Digest (what _is_ it with RD and balloon mishaps? Ambulance chasers!). The story was told from the viewpoint of Mike's passenger, and interestingly enough, absolutely no mention was made of the balloon's identity, Jim Beam, or the interesting traffic situation. (from Martin Booda)
• "Balloon Chasers," Car and Driver, May 1995, volume 40, number 11, pages 124-133. This is an excellent 5 page article written by Phil Berg that focuses on hot-air balloon chasing, mostly from the perspective of the Pepsi Can professional chase team. A little bit about the sport, its history, and KAIBF are also included, along with a number of good photographs from KAIBF '93. Also check out the sidebars on chasing the winners in the 1993 Gordon Bennett Race, and "Chase General vs. Chase Commander" which talks about what goes into these dream chase vehicles.

Newspapers

• The Myrtle Beach Sun, Sunday, 14 May 1995. The paper had a picture of the Energizer Bunny Hot Air Balloon on the front page of the local section. They were announcing that the bunny balloon would be at the beach the first week of November. The Senior Golf Tour has a tournament at that time, which Eveready Battery Co. is the major sponser. The balloon will attemp to fly over the tournament. (from Mike Bouchillon)

Computer/Video Games

• Indiana Jones and the fate of Atlantis - contains one episode where Indiana Jones must ride with a hot air balloon (which can be controlled more or less like the real thing). To ensure that the show (pardon, the game) can go on, he must succeed in doing a kind of "fly in".

Art

• Painter: Ramon Cano Manilla (1888-1974; Mexican)
  Works:

  • The Balloon - Oil (acryl?), 127 x 143 cm, Museo Nacional de Arte, INBA, Mexico City

    The picture is painted in a realistic style, very colourful, with realistic details of the mexican plants, animals, landscape...

    It shows a group of mexican "campesinos" and indians looking curious and admiring on a white-red-green-striped balloon (size of model ballon, height approx. like two humans). In the background a mexican village, fields, and a snowcapped volcano.

    As far as I know there are some customs in Mexico which have to do with balloons because the ancient aztecan leaders may have already known the principle of the lighter hot air... (from Evelyn Moeller)

Other

• no entries yet

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