Kybernetische Großmutter

An elderly grandmother lures a young girl into a modern art wasteland, after receiving an ominous message on a photograph that is played on a record player.

While the girl's parents are, apparently, up in space. She has been sent on what seems to be some sort of futuristic initiation ritual- that is being overseen by a chair, endowed with artificial intelligence, and calling itself her "Grandmother".

As this sentient chair begins to tell the little girl a fairy tale- about 3 people whom kill each other to appease a fire spirit- she becomes terrified and flees into hiding.

It is at this point that the girl's real grandmother shows up, turns off the chair, sits in it, and continues to tell her a story...as if the whole thing was just the little girl's imagination running wild, as she listened to her grandmother tell a tall tale about cybernetic overlords mimicking humans, and inserting themselves in their place, as to take over their role and form exploitative relationships with their loved ones.

So I guess the moral of this little sci-fi/horror stop motion gem is to never trust artificial intelligence. And considering this short film was made in 1962...it is likely way ahead of it's time.

At 29 minutes, this little film is both bizarre, experimental, and beautifully made. Another true work of art from the Czech Master of Stop Motion Animation, Jiri Trnka.

7 out of 10.

Jiří Trnka's haunting "Kybernetická babička" ("The Cybernetic Grandma" in English) is proof that cartoons don't have to be "cute". This exercise in the surreal depicts a future in which machines have replaced humans for everything, including emotions. One might interpret it as a warning about excessive reliance on technology. As for the description of the grandmother as cybernetic, the word comes from the Greek for "steer" or "govern". More recently it's come to refer to the internet.

The cartoon is pretty impressive. The version that I saw had Japanese subtitles, so I couldn't understand most of what they said. Even so, it's clear that there's a reason why Jiří Trnka was known as the Walt Disney of Eastern Europe.