What on Earth!

What on Earth! (1967)

In this Academy Award–nominated animated satire, Martian observers analyze life on Earth and reach a startling conclusion: automobiles appear to be the planet’s dominant species, while humans function merely as their parasites. Directed by Les Drew and Kaj Pindal, the film humorously critiques modern society’s dependence on the car.

Date of release
1967-01-01
TMDB
6.5 / 10 (12)
Runtime
10m
Genres
Animation
Director
Les Drew, Kaj Pindal

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

What on Earth! is a 1966 National Film Board of Canada animated short co-directed by Les Drew and Kaj Pindal. The film is a mockumentary, introduced in its opening credits as produced by the "National Film Board of Mars" that takes a humorous look at car culture from the point of view of fictional Martians, who mistake automobiles for Earth's true inhabitants and people as their parasites. It attempts to examine the sociology of the automobile as the dominant species on Earth, and makes wild guesses about the lifestyle, feeding habits, mating habits and funeral rites of this "species".

Production

The film was first proposed at the NFB by Pindal in December 1963, with the working title Automation, with the intention of showing how "in spite of appearances, man is the master in the automated world." The working title would become Martians, before the final title What on Earth! was chosen. Drew was brought in to work on the film in 1965 and 1966, with Brittain assigned to write narration.

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