Morning Zoo: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A documentary short with the title Morning Zoo. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm polyester film with optical sound.

Filmed at the San Francisco Zoo, the documentary shows the animals and their keepers interacting. One worker describes the morning routine as she bathes a baby animal, grooms a young elephant and bathes a young chimpanzee.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1971
• Produced by: FilmFair Communications, American, 1968 - 1996
• Subject of: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, American, founded 1916
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: children's films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: short subjects
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: polyester film
• Dimensions: Duration: 10 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 350 Feet
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place filmed: San Diego County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Documentary films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Nature
• Object number: 2017.55.36.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.