World of Tomorrow

If you were to watch Don Hertzfeldt's very funny and still wildly outrageous short Rejected from 2000 and go to his latest film, World of Tomorrow, you would see a monumental level of growth as a filmmaker. This isn't to say that he's moved on from having crudely-drawn characters (by design, and delightfully so as absurdly cute, absurdist what-the-f*** things), and that's part of his style. But if you go from one to another there's a level of sophistication to the presentation that has developed. This also isn't to say that Rejected isn't genius on its own level, but watching World of Tomorrow is simply mind-blowing, shot to shot, and that it presents science fiction concepts with such a dead-pan expression emotionally (the voice of the older 'clone' of Emily is just this way) while expressing such seemingly limitless imagination.

We're basically taken, from one older adult clone to her much younger counterpart from the past, into what the future will hold. There's (messy) time travel, there's the 'art' of gathering up old memories that drift along like paintings that can be put on the walls, and there's things like people being put into glass containers to be watched by people like in an exhibit throughout their lives. Oh, and there's not the internet but the OUTER-net, where people just drift along through the neural-connections and some, indeed, become lost.

This is extremely, massively heady stuff, but because of the context of it being between a little girl with notions like "I had lunch today" and "wiggle wiggle wiggle", and that this older clone has gone through a life of her own but with the sort of self-reflection that is very sad, we can relate to it. Or, at least, I could, and it just hit me on a profound level that is hard to describe after one viewing. Information is given out quickly, but nothing is too confusing if one is tapped into its peculiar, visionary science fiction head-space - there's even at one point a poem read by the older Emily about what it means to be a robot (a 'bad' poem, which is acknowledged).

The level of humor is still there for Hertzfeldt that one sees in Rejected or his Third Dimension shorts or any given work he's done. But something about World of Tomorrow is even more striking than his other work, and it may have to do with how he goes from one concept to the next, each shot and set piece with equal parts crazy veracity and almost simplistic grandeur (those shots of the "rich" people of the future uploading their consciousnesses as black boxes going out into space). This mix of incredibly complex and incredibly simple strikes the perfect balance and yet for the seemingly ridiculous angle of how the older Emily interacts with the younger Emily there's an immediate emotional bond, and even an ending that is incredibly emotional.

All I can say is if you have netflix, or a few bucks to spare on Vimeo, watch it and see if it affects you. For me, it's among the greatest short films ever made.

Young child Emily is contacted by the third generation clone of herself from 220 years into the future. This Emily brings child Emily into the future and shows her the world that she will soon live in.

I have read quite a few user comments here that attempt to sum up all the themes and ideas within this short film, and mostly I think they both do it well but also do the film a huge disservice by so crudely laying it out with their words. The film plays out with a great sense of humor combined with angst, despair, beauty, hope, and death. The flat emotional tone of future Emily makes this mix work very well, and the contrast with the simple child Emily also adds to the emotional core of the piece. And this core does exist, although you would think it would struggle under so many darker ideas and themes.

The animation is at once simplistic (the Emilys are stick figures) but yet fantastic in the creativity of the world in which it occurs; everything is pretty minimalist in design but yet there is plenty of detail that makes it visually engaging and quite wonderful to watch. It is the dark gallows humor that sticks with me though, in particular the way that it is used to deliver a message about what is important in life. This short has been very successful and is very well known, so it doesn't need me to say much about it – but it is a great piece of work that is well worth seeing for how creative, intelligent, funny, moving, and entertaining it is.

"World of Tomorrow" (United States, 17 min.) – This film tells its story by animating stick figures and laying them over simple, but colorful and imaginative backgrounds. A little girl who sounds like she's 3 or 4 is visited through her television set by a clone of herself (a few clone generations removed) from 200 years in the future. The future Emily tells "Emily Prime" about life in the future and how all this came to be, as well as taking Emily Prime into the TV so she can see a place called the "outer-net". This film is silly, but inventive, deriving its humor from the quirkiness of people in the future, their whimsical references to death and from the reactions of a toddler hearing and seeing things that adults would have a hard time understanding. The script also works in some social commentary and even a couple deep thoughts such as, "You only appreciate the present when it's the past." Enjoyable, but weird. "A-"

World of Tomorrow (2015)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Don Hertzfeldt's rather unique and original animated short deals with a young girl who is visited from the future by her third clone, which takes her into the future and show her how the world has changed in the two hundred plus years.

I'm watching this short a couple days before the Oscars are actually announced and I must admit that I'll be shocked if something beats this. Well, it's the Oscars so I guess anything is possible but this is a rather clever, original and unique little gem that manages to be rather smart throughout its 17 minute running time. The animation itself is rather laid back but I thought this approach actually worked extremely well and especially when you consider that it's the screenplay and story that is really selling the material. Both Julia Pott and Winona Mae are extremely effective with their voices and really sell the characters quite nicely.

I know it may be strange to do a full length review on a short film, but I felt this one deserved it. Don Hertzfeldt is one of my favorite animators right now and he's done other work that I loved like "It's Such A Beautiful Day" (which I will review at some point in the future) and the disturbingly funny "Rejected". "World Of Tomorrow" is his most recent work, and probably his most critically praised. What do I think of it? I think its absolutely fantastic. Personally, I don't think its as good as "It's Such A Beautiful Day", but still great. Anyways lets continue.

One thing to note is the animation. Hertzfeldt is known for using a somewhat minimalistic but unique style for most of his work, and this is probably his most visual work, since it presents other planets and parts of space. It does use a lot of techniques to create this style like using live action, special blur effects and so on. The short also has an amazingly creative and original story, so creative that it kinda reminds me of those famous short stories from Phillip K. Dick. It does bring up these great concepts, but also has time for emotional and funny moments. There is also some nice voice acting with the clone of Emily and her younger self.

So in the end "World Of Tomorrow" is a creative, funny, and touching animation that makes you think long after you have viewed it. Honestly guys, go watch it now, its on Netflix its only 15 minutes long and I promise you that you won't regret it.

Final Score: 8.5/10