I came across an article on Gizmodo today covering a news story on the Telegraph about scientists “solving” the mystery of levitation – see Telegraph article, “Physicists have ‘solved’ mystery of levitation“, Gizmodo article, “Jaws 19 Coming Soon – Physicists Figure Out How To Cause Levitation; Hoverboards Imminent“.
From the opening of the Gizmodo article:
If there was a cooler movie prop in my childhood than the hoverboard from Back to the Future, Part II, I don’t know what it was. That hoverboard made me really, really want to be living in the year 2015. And while as I got older my pragmatism and cynicism lead me to believe we would definitely not have hoverboards by that time, I might just be proven wrong in the most awesome way possible: by real hoverboards.
I think it’s interesting how a prop from a film – now 18 years old – can have such a long-lasting impact on the culture. People of a certain age group automatically associate a scientific discovery or possible advancement with a prop showcased in a film. I think there has to be a certain magic, and the film has to be regarded as “classic” in some sense, in order for a prop to achieve such a status of universal recognizability.
In any event, I am very happy to have one of the original Back to the Future II Mattel Hoverboards, used by Michael J. Fox as Marty, in my collection.
Here is a photo of my original…
I have a feeling though, if something akin to a Hoverboard is ever made, it will not be pink. I hope. Funny enough, the Hoverboard was originally slated to be “Swatch“-branded, rather than Mattel. Swatch is much more 80s…
Jason De Bord