What on Earth!

What would visitors from another planet think if they suddenly visited Earth?  They might think that cars were the dominant species.  That’s the premise of this 1966 animated short film by Les Drew and Kaj Pindal.  From the National Film Board of Canada:

This animated short proposes what many earthlings have long feared – that the automobile has inherited the planet. When life on Earth is portrayed as one long, unending conga-line of cars, a crew of extra-terrestrial visitors understandably assume they are the dominant race. While humans, on the other hand, are merely parasites.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.  As hard as it is to imagine in today’s media climate, “What on Earth!” was broadcast on ABC here in the U.S. in 1971 as part of a children’s television show produced by Chuck Jones of Bugs Bunny fame.

Hat tip: Gil Meslin.