The Electric Michelangelo, a novel by British novelist
Sarah Hall, is set partly in Coney Island and describes much of the amusement area as it was at its peak prior to World War II and describes some of its post-war decline.
In the comic book G.I. Joe, the character Scarface lived under an abandoned roller coaster on Coney Island.
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby invites Nick to go to Coney Island after his meeting with Jordan Baker.
Samantha at Coney Island by "Josiah Allen's Wife" (
Marietta Holley), 1911, was a popular young-adult novel in the early 20th century.
In Twelve by
Nick McDonell, a novel about a group of rich kids in Manhattan who pass their time taking drugs and partying, the protagonist, White Mike, visits Coney Island. The amusement area is described very negatively (shabby, run-down, deserted, no kids, but hookers and drug dealers).
English singer-songwriter and actor
David Bowie refers to Coney Island in the 2001 song Uncle Floyd (
Toy album, finally released in 2021) and 2002 song Slip Away (
Heathen album) : "Sailing over Coney Island / Twinkle twinkle Uncle Floyd", as a tribute to
Floyd Vivino and "The Uncle Floyd Show".
An early musical reference came in 1926 with "Coney Island Washboard Roundelay", music by Hampton Durand and Jerry Adams, words by Ned Nestor and Aude Shugart. The song is commonly accompanied by a percussionist playing a
washboard.
Australian modern classical composer
Don Banks (1923–1980) composed a short orchestral work called "Coney Island" around 1960 to 1961, which gives a vivid musical picture of the amusement park. It was included on an L.P. record, "Musical Merry-go-round", released in 1961, with music by various composers inspired by the circus and fairground world, played by the
Sinfonia of London, conducted by
Douglas Gamley and
Robert Irving.
In 1962 the American Doo-Wop Group The Excellents released a song "Coney Island Baby" which hit #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962.
American singer-songwriter
Lou Reed's 1976 album is entitled Coney Island Baby and features the track "Coney Island Baby".
In 1980 the legendary Japanese idol
Momoe Yamaguchi's 20th album "Möbius's Game" has a song entitled "哀愁のコニーアイランド (Coney Island of Sorrow)".
American rock band
Aerosmith has a song called "Bone to Bone (Coney Island Whitefish Boy)" from their 1979 album Night in the Ruts.
The debut album of the American jazz band
The Lounge Lizards contains a song called "I Remember Coney Island".
British Group
Swing Out Sister recorded a track called "Coney Island Man" during their "Kaleidoscope World" sessions and featured on their single "You On My Mind" in 1989.
Pop group
New Kids on the Block filmed parts of the video for "Please Don't Go Girl" at Coney Island. Several rides including the Wonder Wheel and the Hell Hole are shown.
American rock band
Mercury Rev references Coney Island in the song "Coney Island Cyclone", from their 1991 album Yerself Is Steam.
American hip-hop trio
Salt-n-Pepa filmed the video at Coney Island for their single "
Shoop" in 1993.
American synth-pop band
The Magnetic Fields references Coney Island in "Strange Powers" from 1994's Holiday.
The music video for the 1999 tune “
Summer Girls” by
LFO(Lyte Funkie Ones) was filmed on the Boardwalk when the Astroland Rocket was on Gregory & Paul’s roof and provided the setting for this top 10 summer hit.
American singer-songwriter
Tom Waits has a song called "Coney Island Baby," on his 2002 album Blood Money. He also references Coney Island in his songs "Table Top Joe" from the 2002 album Alice and "Take It With Me" from the 1999 album Mule Variations.
New York singer/songwriter and banjo contortionist,
Curtis Eller has a song "Coney Island Blue" on his 2004 album Taking Up Serpents Again
German punk band The Flunkeys released a single from their 2007 album, No Riot, called "Coney Island".
American band
Beat Circus' 2008 album entitled Dreamland, references the turn-of-the-century Coney Island theme park
Dreamland in several of its songs including Coney Island Creepshow and Hell Gate, and includes historical images and postcards of early Coney Island donated by the Coney Island Museum.
The indie/folk-rock band
Good Old War have a song called "Coney Island" on their debut album, Only Way To Be Alone.
The Klezmatics recorded an album of
Woody Guthrie lyrics about Coney Island that they put to music called "Wonder Wheel." It includes the song "Mermaid Avenue."[7]
Lana Del Rey frequently references Coney Island in her songs and often refers to herself as the Queen of Coney Island. Examples include the songs "
Carmen," "Off To The Races," "Mermaid Motel" and "TV In Black & White."
Alex Weiser wrote a song cycle called "Coney Island Days" based on an oral history interview with his grandmother about her childhood including playing in Coney Island and working at her family's Coney Island
knish store. [8]
In the silent short Coney Island (1917), starring Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton, the scene is Luna Park amusement park and several famous rides are featured, including Witching Waves.
In A.I. (2001), directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring Haley Joel Osment, David and Teddy take a submersible to the Blue Fairy, which turns out to be a statue from a submerged attraction at Coney Island. Teddy and David become trapped when the park's
Ferris wheel falls on their vehicle.
In the movie Angel Heart, Harry Angel (
Mickey Rourke) goes to Coney Island, to gather information on his case. The
Wonder Wheel is seen in the background.
Alvy Singer, the lead character in Woody Allen's 1977 semi-autobiographical film classic Annie Hall lived in Coney Island as a child in a house that was under the Thunderbolt rollercoaster that shook wildly every time the coaster made its rounds. Alvy's father ran the
bumper cars' concession.
A Coney Island amusement park is the setting of the Rhedosaurus' last stand in the 1953 science-fiction film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.
The final scene of the 2008 movie Cloverfield shows the main characters on the Ferris wheel at Coney Island.
The 1998 drama He Got Game takes place in Coney Island.
The 1985 movie Heaven Help Us contains a scene where
Andrew McCarthy and
Mary Stuart Masterson's characters spend a date at Coney Island, and kiss passionately (and possibly go even further than that) under a boardwalk during a rainstorm.
The 1927 silent film It, starring
Clara Bow, features a trip to the park and a tour of the historic rides.
In the 1979 film The Warriors, a gang of the same name fight their way back to Coney Island after being accused of a murder that they did not commit.
In the 1953 film Little Fugitive, a small boy runs away to Coney Island after thinking he has killed his brother.
In Madigan, Coney Island is the backdrop for a scene wherein the title character and his partner speak with a local bookie to get information on their suspect.
In Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Remo Williams (played by
Fred Ward) is seen doing workout exercises on the Wonder Wheel, as well as playing boardwalk games on Coney Island.
In Sinners' Holiday (1930) with James Cagney and Joan Blondell, the story is set on Coney Island. The movie was based on the play Penny Arcade.
In the 1982 film Sophie's Choice, the characters played by
Meryl Streep,
Kevin Kline and
Peter MacNicol spend "Dress-Up Sunday" at Coney Island. Prior to this, Sophie exclaims "Coney Island - Oh boy!" with unparalleled enthusiasm.
In the 1928 silent film Speedy,
Harold Lloyd spends a day at Coney Island with his girlfriend.
In 2017 movie Wonder, Coney Island was featured in a small, but important role: the beach was the favorite place of the main character's sister, Via, because that is where she often hangs out with her now deceased grandma. Coney Island appears in a flashback and in Via's "lonely day" where she remembers her grandma.
In the opening scenes of the 2013 post-apocalyptic science fiction film Oblivion, the
Cyclone and the
Wonder Wheel are seen damaged sixty years after an alien invasion destroyed New York City.[9]
In the 2009 film Push, Nick (
Chris Evans) met Kira (
Camilla Belle) at Coney Island and a photograph of the two of them there becomes part of the film's plot.
In the 2015 film Brooklyn, Eilis and Tony visit Coney Island.
In television
The 1950s television show
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, starring
Darren McGavin, features an episode called "Coney Island Baby", which takes place amidst the amusement parks.
The Naked City 1958 first-season episode; 'Burst of Passion' features a desolate closed down off season Coney Island as the final hiding place of a psychopath random killer (
Woodrow Parfey) being hunted down and shot dead by Det. Jimmy Halloran, played by
James Franciscus.
The American Dragon: Jake Long episode, "Flight of the Unicorn" (November 3, 2005), features Jake, Trixie, and Spud taking a vacation at Coney Island and discovering an actual unicorn on display, which they try to rescue and send to its herd in
Central Park.[10]
In a Dora the Explorer episode, "We All Scream for Ice Cream" (2000), Dora and Boots go to "Coney Island". A title referenced to peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area of a same name.[citation needed]
In The Golden Girls episode, "Sophia's Wedding"(1988), Sophia mentions that her late husband Sal and his business partner used to run a pizza &
knish stand at Coney Island.
In the Seinfeld episode, "
The Subway" (January 8, 1992), Jerry Seinfeld travels to Coney Island to retrieve his stolen car, but ends up just going on the rides.[11]
In an Ugly Betty episode, Gio takes Betty and DJ (Daniel Junior) to Coney Island to hide from his grandparents, who are going to take him back to France.
The Wizards of Waverly Place episode, "Detention Election" (March 19, 2010), contains a B-story wherein Jerry Russo, Max Russo, and Harper get stuck on a Ferris wheel at Coney Island.[12]
In the animated comedy series Futurama, protagonist Phillip J. Fry, a New York City native, attended "Coney Island Community College". In the second episode of the series, "
The Series Has Landed", the crew make a delivery to a theme park on the moon called Luna Park, a parody of Coney Island's
Luna Park.
Coney Island is the setting for the Wonder Pets episode, "Save the Squirrel!", wherein the Pets saved a baby squirrel from a Ferris wheel and then from the
Cyclone roller coaster.
Coney Island was the base for Dr. Blowhole in the Penguins of Madagascar episode, "Dr. Blowhole's Revenge" where the penguins discovered where he was, so they can rescue King Julien and defeat Blowhole.
In The Path Season 1, Episode 8 "The Shore", Eddie Lane (Aaron Paul) and your son Hawk travel to Coney Island's and the Wonder Wheel appears.
In the 3rd season of The Strain, Eph wanted to exchange from a book to a boy, resulting in a fight in the Coney Island water.
Coney Island is the home of hacker collective fsociety, in the drama-thriller series, Mr. Robot. Scenes were also shot on Coney Island's
Wonder Wheel.[13]
Coney Island was the first location visited during the final leg of The Amazing Race 21, where the final three teams had to find a clue hidden in plain sight on the
Riegelmann Boardwalk.[14]
In theater
Neil Simon's 1983 play Brighton Beach Memoirs (also a 1986 movie) depicts growing up in the Coney Island area, and features scenes with the Coney Island rollercoaster in the background.
The climax of the 1944 musical On the Town (also a 1949 film of the same name), by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, takes place at Coney Island.
The 1954 musical By the Beautiful Sea, by Arthur Schwartz and Herbert and Dorothy Fields, is set in Coney Island.
Much like the film,
Rockstar Games' adaptation of The Warriors is based in a miniaturized version of Coney Island as well as other parts depicted in the film.
Coney Island is the setting for Coney Island: The Hunt in The Division 2.
Two catchphrase recorded on Coney Island by the NYC web series “
Sidetalk” have gone viral: "Bing Bong" and "Joe Byron; What's up, baby? Take me out to dinner." (said by a homeless man)[15][16][17]
The song "Meet Me Down At Luna, Lena" was recorded by
Billy Murray in 1905 to promote the park, among others.[18] The song was rerecorded for the 2007 documentary film Welcome Back Riders.[19]
A fictionalized Dreamland serves as a major setting in
Disney's 2019
live-action adaptation of Dumbo. The film references the electrical fire, but is not historically accurate to the actual events: in Dumbo, the fire took place in 1919, and Dreamland was owned by V. A. Vandevere, a fictional character.
Kevin Baker wrote a historical novel, Dreamland, about life in New York City at the time Dreamland existed, touching on the politics, economics, social conditions of the time, and Dreamland is one of the central places in the book. His book also contains a description of the fire.
Dutch writer
J. Bernlef's novel De witte stad (The White City) narrates about the fictional lives of many Dreamland inhabitants.
Dutch writer
Arthur Japin's novel De grote wereld (The Big World), about two midgets, is partly set in Dreamland.
Dutch architect
Rem Koolhaas writes at length on Dreamland in his retroactive manifesto for Manhattan, Delirious New York.
Dutch writer
Peter Verhelst's novel Geschiedenis van een berg (History of a mountain) about a park based on Dreamland, called 'Droomland' (Dreamland).
Henry Miller mentions Dreamland in his novel,
Tropic of Capricorn: I was walking again in Dreamland and a man was walking above me on a tightrope and above him a man was sitting in an airplane spelling letters of smoke in the sky.
Steven Millhauser, in his short story "Paradise Park", also talks about Dreamland as a rival amusement park. There are some similarities between Paradise Park and Dreamland.
Fannie Flagg, in "Standing in the Rainbow", referred to Dreamland as being 'so big they had an entire little town there'.
American author
Alice Hoffman writes about Dreamland in her 2014 novel of historical fiction entitled "The Museum of Extraordinary Things." The book is set in New York City in the early 1900s and includes the Dreamland fire in the plot, as well as the
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
American author
Christopher Bram sets the last part of his novel at Dreamland, in his 2000 novel of historical fiction entitled "The Notorious Dr. August: His Real Life and Crimes." The major character of the novel is conceived as one of the major "acts" at Dreamland in an extensive treatment of the setting.
Tom Waits wrote the song "Tabletop Joe" in which the title character is himself part of the freak show exhibit, "a man without a body," but Joe becomes rich and famous as a part of the Dreamland show, and after being shunned, after joining Dreamland, he now feels that he is where he belongs.
Brian Carpenter wrote a play treatment which he used as a springboard for lyrics and compositions behind his second studio album for
Beat Circus entitled Dreamland. Carpenter's Dreamland is a 150-page score and song cycle interwoven with Carpenter's fictional tale of an impoverished, alcoholic gold miner who makes a pact with the devil before fleeing eastward to work in Dreamland's sideshows. The album featured
Todd Robbins, alumnus of Coney Island, and its booklet includes historical images of Dreamland donated by the
Coney Island Museum.[22]
^Rabinovitz, Lauren (2004).
"The Coney Island Comedies". In Charlie Keil, Shelley Stamp (ed.). American cinema's transitional era: audiences, institutions, practices (illustrated ed.). University of California Press.
ISBN978-0-520-24027-8.
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