What on Earth!
1966 · 9m · Canada
Directed by Les Drew, Kaj Pindal
Genres: animation, satire, sci-fi
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, whimsical
Visiting extraterrestrials survey Earth and conclude that cars, moving in an endless line, must be the planet's dominant species. In this Oscar-nominated animated satire, humans are mistaken for mere parasites on the automobiles.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Everyone wants to applaud the inversion—cars as the real citizens, humans as parasites—but what actually kills is how deadpan Drew and Pindal commit to the bit, letting the satire breathe without winking at the camera like lesser shorts would.
A formal masterclass in visual argument: the clean geometric compositions and methodical pacing force the alien logic to unfold with the inevitability of proof, and the film's restraint is what makes the social critique linger—this is animation operating as essay.
The entire film pivots on a single production choice—treating the automobiles with the same deliberate character animation usually reserved for protagonists—and suddenly you're watching a species study that works because the filmmakers committed completely to the aliens' misreading.