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Automania 2000
An animated, dark satire of America's automobile-obsessed, consumerist culture. An anonymous, brilliant scientist toils tirelessly in his ivory tower satisfying the public's ever-increasing demands for novelty and status consciousness, with predictable environmental consequences.
Release : | 1964 |
Rating : | 6.6 |
Studio : | Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Films, |
Crew : | Director, Editor, |
Cast : | Ed Bishop |
Genre : | Animation Comedy Science Fiction |
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Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
best movie i've ever seen.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
I am mainly familiar with the animation work of British husband-and-wife team John Halas and Joy Batchelor via their wonderful cartoon adaptation of George Orwell's political allegory ANIMAL FARM (1955); though this one-reeler got a favourable assessment in "Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide" and was nominated for an Oscar, I never had the opportunity to catch it until I decided to check its availability via "You Tube" on a whim! I still did not expect it to be this surreal, or so thoroughly effective – to say nothing of prophetic – as a satire on society's obsession with automobiles, something which I thankfully am not bothered with myself...as I do not even own a car, despite having acquired a driving licence years ago (and which is why I can never understand some people's adulation for anything equipped with an engine)! Anyway, Science is content here to supply to the public demand for larger (the one point it did not get right, since things are actually becoming increasingly microscopic in size) and ever more sophisticated models (eventually being also able to reproduce themselves!). The result of this sees the whole planet engulfed by motor vehicles, so much so that their owners (and immediate families) are forced to take up residence inside them! The visualization of a massive pile-up of machines and helicopters flying above to provide the necessary sustenance and medical attention to the trapped occupants is delightful...but the solitary manufacturer himself, previously safe up in his proverbial ivory tower, is ultimately overwhelmed by his own creations. The stylish film is colourful and great fun – and, at this stage, makes me wonder what other gems of its ilk (or, for that matter, Short Subjects in general) may have been eluding me all this time...
This little film is supposed to be set in the year 2000 and is all about the car. Apparently, it impressed the folks at the Oscar committee because it was nominated for an award in the category Best Cartoon Short.While I do understand that the early 1960s were not a very good time period for quality cartoons due to reduced frame rates and simplistic animation in order to save money, this film is lame even by the standards of the day. The biggest problem is that the film is neither funny nor interesting nor particularly well made. It's a lot like a dull lecture--a lecture I could have done without.
Automania 2000 is a British animated short from Halas and Batchelor that depicts a future that is overrun by cars as the result of public demand for bigger and better ones. The effect is that cars stack up so much space in the world that people start living in them without going outside much. And then cars start reproducing themselves which cause even more girdlock. Partly humorous in tone owing to the cheery narration but pretty eerie visually, Automania 2000 is a compelling look at the not-too-distant time beyond the present that should give us lots to think about. Well worth seeing for animation fans. I discovered this unique short on YouTube through Cartoon Brew.
The year 2000; in the past year science has made massive leaps giving us seemingly unlimited power, the ability to harvest the sea and the ability to make inexhaustible food for all. The same principles have been applied to manufacturing which has sadly overwhelmed the streets with cars. In some areas, families now live in their cars and have been stationary for almost five years now. The film looks back at the development and marketing of the "need" for bigger and better cars that ultimately led them us to this sorry state.Although the year 2000 is now the past rather than the future as seen from the early sixties this film still makes a valid point and indeed its warning about the roads of materialism and greed us more applicable today than it was then. The film uses an American voice, speaking in glowing "marketing" speak of the progress made, putting a positive spin on everything; this was perhaps an easy ploy but it works and only helps to highlight the danger of chasing the constant dream of material wealth. This is important as they film takes its point to extremes but by use of the narration, the relevance is still obvious and it still made me think. The animation is basic and dated (like a clunky Jetsons?) but it works, with the innocence of the style only adding to the sensation of science marching onwards with a blissful and cheerful lack of foresight.Overall an interesting little animation that you may find doing the rounds at liberal film festivals as part of a throwback look at commercialism and materialism.