19

Google's AI suggested the video Sub37 - Meeting in the Woods which consists of clips from the 1998 film You Can't Hurry Love (IMDB and Wikipedia)

It includes a shot of a neon sign of a dragon that looks familiar to me, as I lived in the LA area in the 1990's, but I can't place it. Perhaps I saw it along the road, or even in the Museum of Neon Art which is now in Glendale (and has another dragon) but was located in LA proper back then.

Question: Where was this neon sign of a dragon displayed in Los Angeles in the 1990s? Is it still there now?


screenshot from the YouTube video "Sub37 - Meeting in the Woods" https://youtu.be/QpAvtvk046g

below: additional screenshots of LA for context, click for larger

screenshot from the YouTube video "Sub37 - Meeting in the Woods" https://youtu.be/QpAvtvk046g screenshot from the YouTube video "Sub37 - Meeting in the Woods" https://youtu.be/QpAvtvk046g

5
  • similar ("vintage" video of LA): Help identifying this landmark and road in "Los Angeles 1940s, Residential Area in color"
    – uhoh
    Oct 9, 2022 at 22:11
  • 2
    This article suggests the dragon was originally at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood: dailybulletin.com/2018/01/16/… Oct 9, 2022 at 23:44
  • @lambshaanxy the sight is fighting me with promotions and not allowing me to read the article. I saw "Pomona" and was able to grab this image which looks a bit like it could be a warehouse for the Museum of Neon Art. If you can expand this into an answer and include some block quotes so I could see what the article says, that would be excellent!
    – uhoh
    Oct 9, 2022 at 23:58
  • 1
    What are you referring to when you say Google's AI? Oct 11, 2022 at 15:26
  • 2
    @HashimAziz The YouTube recommendation algorithm. Nobody really knows how it works, but it does use some technologies called AI.
    – wizzwizz4
    Oct 11, 2022 at 16:22

1 Answer 1

23

The neon dragon in your screenshot appears to be one of the dragons that adorned the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. They weren't removed from the theatre until 2001, so it is possible you could have seen them during the 1990s atop the theatre. They are now housed at the Museum of Neon Art.

A reverse image search found this news story on MSN.com about the Museum of Neon Art. The included video starts with a pan across what appears to be the same neon dragon you are asking about. The article mentions that

The Museum of Neon Art houses the dragon that once adorned Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

The museum, located in Glendale with a warehouse in Pomona, works to collect and maintain neon art.

"When we received this sign it was completely destroyed ... we had to sandblast it, re-pattern all the neon glass, re-bend it, re-paint it," said Corrie Siegel, executive director of the Museum of Neon Art.

And in another article I found it mentions that the neon dragons were removed in 2001, so it seems possible that you may have seen them during the 1990s on the theatre itself.

The dragons were taken down in 2001 during another remodel. Both were promised to MONA.

3
  • 8
    so part of Museum Of Neon Art is located in poMONA. Huh.
    – user253751
    Oct 10, 2022 at 11:32
  • 1
    What caused them to be destroyed? Was it intentional? Earthquake damage? Seems like something as iconic as that would be preserved for historical reasons, not have to be completely rebuilt... Oct 10, 2022 at 13:46
  • 3
    @DarrelHoffman One of the articles I read mentioned that the were taken down during a building remodel and had been promised to the museum but were never actually handed over and just sat in a storage lot for several years, deteriorating.
    – Midavalo
    Oct 10, 2022 at 16:02

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .