World of Tomorrow

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.

"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-"

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

An incredible short animation. this was very thoughtful piece of work about the world around us. how easy Don Hertzfeldt describe the world. and I do believe in near future we will see such things in reality. and I should say the dialogs were perfect.

Don Hertzfeldt has become one of my favorite filmmakers! "Rejected" was always one of my favorite short films, and "It's Such a Beautiful Day" moved me more than any animated film since "Grave of the Fireflies". I'm glad to say that Hertzfeldt has absolutely amazed me yet again with his masterpiece "World of Tomorrow".

"World of Tomorrow" is a truly mind bending experience, and one of the greatest short films I've ever seen (along with greats like "A Trip to the Moon", "La jetee", and "Zero for Conduct"). It manages to always be thought provoking, hilarious, and bizarrely moving and emotional. It is an experience that I won't soon be forgetting, and I highly encourage seeing it as soon as possible, for this is one of the greatest films of 2015, short or feature!