WABAC machine

The WABAC Machine (pronounced, and often synonymous with, Way-back) refers to a fictional machine from the cartoon segment Peabody's Improbable History, an ongoing feature of the 1960's cartoon series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.[1][2] The WABAC Machine is a plot device used to transport the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman back in time. The meaning of the acronym is unknown, but mid-century, high-technology names often ended in "AC", such as ENIAC, Univac, EDVAC, MANIAC, and JOHNNIAC.

Contents

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show

Within the Peabody's Improbable History cartoon segment, the machine was constructed by Mr. Peabody, a professorial, bow tie-wearing dog, as a birthday gift for Sherman, Mr. Peabody's pet boy, to be able to visit famous historical events.[3] At the request of Mr. Peabody ("Sherman, set the WABAC machine to ..."), Sherman would set the WABAC machine to a time and place of historical importance, and the two would be instantly transported there. The machine apparently later returned Mr. Peabody and Sherman to the present, although the return trip was never shown.[4][5]

According to Gerard Baldwin, one of the show's directors, the name "WABAC" is a reference to the UNIVAC I.[6]

Popular culture

The concept or term "WABAC Machine," more often employed as "Wayback Machine," has been extensively adopted in popular culture as a convenient way to introduce issues or events of the past, often employing the original line "Sherman, set the WABAC machine to ...". This introduction was used by the character Kevin Flynn in the film Tron, for example.[7] As in the original cartoon, the Wayback Machine is often invoked to suggest the audience follow the narrator back to the past. Frequently such visits to the past are trips of nostalgia, remembering times, places, or things of the not-so-distant past.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

One example of popular usage occurred in "Goofy Ball", a 1995 episode of the TV show NewsRadio, when station owner Jimmy James (Stephen Root) says: "Dave, don't mess with a man with a Wayback Machine. I can make it so you were never born."[15]

The Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive was named after the WABAC.[16][17]

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Scott, Keith (2001). The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-28383-0. 
  2. ^ Dunne, Michael (2001). Intertextual encounters in American fiction, film, and popular culture. Popular Press. p. 157. http://books.google.com/books?id=EPJ1AAAAMAAJ&dq=wabac. 
  3. ^ "Mr. Peabody and Sherman". Youtube.com. June 9, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YunO4Wc8E28. Retrieved 2009-09-14. 
  4. ^ Weinberg, Scott (September 16, 2006). "DreamWorks to Bring "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" to the Big Screen". Rotten Tomatoes.com. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rocky_and_bullwinkle_complete_season_1/news/1647515/dreamworks_to_bring_andquotmr_peabody_andamp_shermanandquot_to_the_big_screen. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 
  5. ^ "Classic Cartoon – Mr. Peabody and Sherman in Pancho Villa". The Retroist.com. September 10, 2009. http://www.retroist.com/2009/08/12/classic-cartoon-mr-peabody-and-sherman-in-pancho-villa/. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 
  6. ^ Kahle, Brewster (April 24, 2009). "Wayback Machine comes to life in new home". http://www.archive.org/iathreads/post-view.php?id=243665. Retrieved 2009-08-23. "On another note, we got a nice letter from the last living director of the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Gerard Baldwin, because he read about the "fantastic project". Our Wayback Machine is a tribute to their more cleverly named "Waybac Machine" which in turn was a reference to the Univac. Sherman and Peabody live on." 
  7. ^ Steven Lisberger, Tron, screenplay, 1982: "FLYNN (CONT.) (sighs): 'Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for… oh, 1973.'"
  8. ^ Miller, Ernest (24 September). "Sherman, Set the Wayback Machine for Scientology" (Blog). LawMeme. Yale Law School. Archived from the original on 2006-04-24. http://web.archive.org/web/20060424082239/http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=350. Retrieved 2007-06-27. 
  9. ^ Robinson, Eugene (September 5, 2006). "Who Set the Wayback Machine for 1939?". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090400698.html. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
  10. ^ Britt, Robert Roy (July 25, 2005). "The Wayback Machine? Nearby Solar System Looks Like Home". Space.com. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050725_dusty_star.html. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
  11. ^ Mallozzi, Vincent M. (April 6, 2007). "A Jukebox Is a Way-Back Machine With Black Vinyl Wings". The New York Times. http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/travel/escapes/06Ritual.html. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
  12. ^ Smith, Sam (April 26, 2007). "Condi’s way-back machine". Scholars and Rogues. http://scholarsandrogues.wordpress.com/2007/04/26/condis-way-back-machine/. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
  13. ^ Clark, Mike (April 12, 2004). "Wayback machine puts out plenty of time-travel movies". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2004-04-12-mikes-menu_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
  14. ^ Kurtz, Scott (May 11, 2005). "PvP - Player vs Player - Set the WABAC machine to Pac-Man". pvponline.com. http://www.pvponline.com/2005/05/11/wed-may-11/. Retrieved 2005-05-11. 
  15. ^ Memorable quotes for NewsRadio: Goofy Ball (1995) from the Internet Movie Database
  16. ^ Green, Heather (February 28, 2002). "A Library as Big as the World". BusinessWeek. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2002/tc20020228_1080.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-29. 
  17. ^ TONG, JUDY (September 08, 2002). "RESPONSIBLE PARTY -- BREWSTER KAHLE; A Library Of the Web, On the Web". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/08/business/responsible-party-brewster-kahle-a-library-of-the-web-on-the-web.html. Retrieved 15 August 2011. 
Characters
Locations
Story Arcs
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Voice talent
Supporting features
Films
Other