time period
What year/decade does this movie take place? Sorry if this is a simple question-I've never read the books and to me it was difficult to tell in the movie. It seemed like modern times, but the clothes were old fashioned to me.
shareThe Eloise books were written in the 1950's. Eloise at Christmastime was published in 1958 and the movie should be set in that time frame as well. All the clothing styles and the lavish hotel life are all from the period. It wasn't at all unusual for someone to have an apartment in a hotel. I love the look and feel of the time.
There are jarring notes that don't fit into 1958 though. The Broadway show "Gypsy" is referenced and it was from 1959-61 and Eloise gets tickets for the show. That could still work though it places it a little later. Then Nanny is watching "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" which was released in 1964. I have to admit to seeing this in the theatre when it came out and it wouldn't have been on TV for a few years after that. That would put the Eloise in the mid to later 1960's and that doesn't really work at all.
I'd ignore the whole Martian thing and a few other inconsistencies and stick with the late 1950's.
When shopping they went to Toys R Us. Toys R Us started off as a baby furniture store in DC in 1948 under a different name. It didn't become the store we know until the 70's. Even then it had a very different look and logo design.
In the movie the Toys R Us they went to had the present logo sign. The Barbie Eloise pulls out of a man's hands was a modern Barbie box, not the original type box. Barbie premiered in 1959.
Also in the Toys R Us was a huge animatronic dinosaur. That would not have been built/available in the 50's.
I'm sure I'll notice more anachronisms as the movie goes along, but those are the ones that jumped out at me. I'm watching it right now.
Ken
PS - I also noticed the wedding gown. First of all, the style is NOT 50's at all. But also, the top of it was made of illusion. Illusion (the fabric) was not made in the 50's. (I'm a designer, so things like this pop out at me. I'm horrible when watching period movies.)
Never regret the things you've done, only the things you've dared not do.
Yeah, I was watching it with my mom (she wanted to see the end once she started watching partway through) and yet we couldn't figure out why some parts seemed modern like Toys R Us and the phones that people were using with the ones that seem antique now with the cradle.
shareWell the logo and names can be easily dismissed with the fact that companies pay for the name recognition. Aside from a few companies like Coca-Cola, people dont tend to know what the old logos/boxes/etc used to look like.
And as far as the rest of the inconsistencies, I dont believe they set a specific time frame, so they can get away with things like that. Even the book didnt have a specific time frame. They could have picked any or all decades and still had the point of the story get across.
Also, when they go through Times Square in Eloise at the Plaza, you clearly see billboards for Mamma Mia and Aida (as well as the giant screens). And Bill and Rachel talk about having sung "Wherever We Go" years before, but as you noted, Gypsy didn't come out until the late 1950s.
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