New York City-1971: Polar Bear Swimming in Zoo Pool

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Year1971
Decade1970s
LocationNew York City, New York, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1971 New York City

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

Polar Bear Swimming in Zoo Pool — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1971, this vintage home movie captures a polar bear swimming in a concrete zoo enclosure in New York City. The bear moves through the water near a small waterfall feature, with snow patches visible along the edge of the pool. Bare trees line the background beyond a high wall, suggesting winter or early spring. The footage exhibits classic Super 8 grain, color fading, and slight camera shake, offering a nostalgic glimpse into mid-20th century zoo life and family entertainment.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 125581911

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Commercial Direct license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

No recognizable people, logos, or music are flagged. Lower-risk for commercial use, subject to your own review.

People visible: No
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel 1008 · Super 8 · 7″ reel
Reel-level year note: 1971
Reel-level location note: new york,vermont,new hampshire,maine
Date: 1971 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level note shows the same year, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Location: New York City, New York, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level location note is linked, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

View source reel context Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

wilderness
cold
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1971
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Super 8 footage
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1970s wildlife
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family entertainment
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documentary footage
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wildlife in captivity
1970s nostalgia

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: 1971 New York City 8mm zoo footage suited for documentary inserts about urban animal exhibits, winter outings, or archival family recreation.
Period detail: The concrete pool, high enclosure wall, bare trees, snow patches, and soft 8mm color may show a cool-season zoo visit in the early 1970s.
Home-movie behavior: The clip has a visitor-shot home-movie perspective, observing the polar bear from across the enclosure without staged action or visible narration cues.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a polar bear in water, a concrete zoo pool, a small waterfall edge, snow patches, a tall wall, bare trees, and dark film-frame borders.
Film character: The footage carries 8mm grain, mild color fading, soft focus, handheld framing, and exposure shifts that give the short animal scene clear physical-film texture.
Edit role: An editor could use it as a brief cutaway, memory beat, or transition for zoo visits, urban wildlife display, winter recreation, or 1970s family travel sequences.
Historical context: The view documents a polar bear in a walled public zoo enclosure, offering visual context for visitor experiences and animal-display design of the period.
Research note: No people, logos, or brands are visible, but copyright, zoo-location permissions, and any property or animal-exhibition sensitivities should be reviewed separately.
Research search match: Useful searches include 1971 New York City zoo 8mm, polar bear swimming enclosure, vintage home movie zoo animal, and winter zoo footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with nearby shots from the same reel, then other 1971 New York City zoo footage, then broader vintage zoo or animal-enclosure material.

Still Frames From This Clip

1971 New York City 8mm frame showing a polar bear in a concrete zoo pool with snow patches, bare trees, and a high enclosure wall. — A polar bear swims near the snowy edge of a concrete zoo enclosure.

1971 New York City 8mm frame of a polar bear partly submerged in a concrete zoo enclosure, with snow patches and winter trees beyond the wall. — The bear moves through the pool beside snow-lined concrete edges.

1971 New York City 8mm frame with the polar bear low in the pool, a tall concrete wall behind it, and dark film borders from the scan. — The polar bear remains low in the water below the enclosure wall.

1971 New York City 8mm frame of the polar bear enclosure, showing the pool, snowy ledges, waterfall edge, high wall, and bare trees. — The enclosure pool and snowy waterfall edge remain in view as the bear moves out of frame.

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