Grasshoppers

This short, nominated for the Academy Award, is a sardonic look at history and effectively makes a few points about the ultimate realities and who the victors really are. Very well done and well worth the effort to get. Fortunately in print currently. Most highly recommended.

This is a very clever cartoon that manages to tell the story of mankind from its inception until today! Considering it only takes about 9 minutes, I was quite impressed--especially since I am a world history teacher. In fact, the film does such a great job that I am thinking about showing it to my students to review what we learn each year.

The cartoon is very simply animated and the biggest reason I liked it was its kooky sensibilities. Instead of focusing on the great moments of human endeavor, it chooses instead to basically show people killing each other again and again and again through the ages. Usually, it was all very funny to watch, but behind all this was a great cynical message about the stupidity of our species! Clever, insightful and inspired--this is an exceptional short.

From time immemorial mankind has thrived on it's ability to make war. From the cavemen armed with their stone axes throughout history the Egyptians, Romans, Vandals, you name it! To accompany our desire to slaughter each other on an ever grander scale we have built bigger castles, discovered new ways ways to torture each other. Religion - well maybe the Devil more, has played it's role too. The advent of the gun is a game changer allowing us to kill more people, more often and more quickly too! Will it ever end? Supported by a diverse range of semi-classical musical themes, this animation fills it's boots with as many characterful aspects of man's inhumanity to man across the centuries it can, sequencing a series of historical vignettes entertainingly and tightly stitched together. It was only 8 minutes or so in 1990 but I'm sure we've invented new ways to extend it by now! Good fun.

This is an 8 1/2 minute short that captures the violent interactions that have demolished civilizations for centuries, from the cave people to modern warfare. It is done at a breathtaking pace, showing no matter how great we think we are, we all end up under that grass. This is where true piece lies.