What on Earth!

Just watched this Oscar-nominated animated short on YouTube. Presented by "The National Film Board of Mars", What on Earth! has a narrator telling the Mars audience about the life there is on Earth that feeds on a pump of gas. It seems he's referring to the cars that dominate the highway. We also find out about the "Earthling"s "retirement" parking place and how they "reproduce". And then there are those "parasites" (humans) that inhabit these "Earthlings"...This satirical animated short from The National Film Board of Canada hits the mark of how the Mars people think the cars are the living creatures since the road is dominated by them. And considering how there hasn't been any evidence of actual life on the red planet yet, there's no chance of anyone there being offended by the material here. So on that note, I cautiously recommend What on Earth!

This short, nominated for an Academy Award, is a very funny and very pointed satire that really deserves to be more widely seen than it has been. Produced under the auspices of the NFBC, it scores points in quite a few areas, lampooning aspects of modern culture. Produced in 1967, the points it makes are just as cogent and valid today. Until recently, Cartoon Network showed this occasionally on the very late-night series, O Canada, which, sadly, is not currently airing. Cartoons are not just for children and much of the output from the National Film Board of Canada shows that they understand this. Try and catch this somewhere if you can. It's most definitely worth seeing. Most recommended.

Some Martians have visited Earth, not landing, but making visual scans. It is determined that our cars and other vehicles are the indigenous Earth people. Once that is assumed, all the activities of motorized vehicles seem to parallel a kind of civilization. They investigate travel, garages, junk yards, used car lots, road signs, on and on. The pompous narrator really helps because at no time does he get anything right. But his tone makes it seem like this is the way it is.

I've stumbled upon this short animated feature by accident but was absolutely fascinated by its premise - it is a fictional documentary made from a perspective of Mars scientists and their beliefs about life on Earth. It grabs your attention from the get-go and 9 minutes pass by very quickly; the idea of having cars as true inhabitants of Earth is not new but it's the way it's presented that keeps you interested. People are shown as parasites that stand in the way of real progress and the whole cartoon can be interpreted as a satirical commentary on current life that people are living. Machines are doing everything for us now and what are we doing to leave a trace on this Earth? Exactly! Great short feature and a very well-crafted piece of art.

Is there life on Earth? From a Martian perspective, their scientists discover that humans have four wheels, guzzle fuel and basically just party through life before undergoing the ultimate process of recycling/sex! This animation is great fun, as is the narrative - it pokes fun at the simplest of activities we do in our cars - petrol stations, traffic jams, car washes and it even attributes human traits to the humble traffic light! Accompanied by a swinging soundtrack, this is well worth a watch, as the Martians wonder what is the purpose of an "Earthling"! Produced by the Canadian National Film Board.