# 50's Cartoon about Earth Run by Cars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50s-cartoon-about-earth-run-by-cars/785443 "2017-04-28T15:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50s-cartoon-about-earth-run-by-cars/785443/1 "2017-04-28T15:29:01Z")
Does anyone remember a short animated cartoon _cough_ about alien _cough_ anthropologists who discover Earth, a planet whose main species is Automobiles (with human parasites)? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50s-cartoon-about-earth-run-by-cars/785443/2 "2017-04-28T15:34:00Z")
I recall similar comments - Clarke? Heinlein? - about how casual alien observers would assume cars were Earth’s dominant life form, in much that same era. Influence one way or the other, or common thought, or just parallel thinking… I dunno. Don’t recall a cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50s-cartoon-about-earth-run-by-cars/785443/3 "2017-04-28T15:37:07Z")
60s? [What on Earth - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_on_Earth)! The idea was also in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. That’s why the character named himself Ford Prefect ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50s-cartoon-about-earth-run-by-cars/785443/4 "2017-04-28T15:41:10Z")
Sounds like it might be the 1952 Tex Avery MGM cartoon **One Cab’s Family** : > **[One Cab's Family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Cab%27s_Family)** > > One Cab's Family is a 1952 Metro Goldwyn Mayer cartoon short directed by Tex Avery about the arrival of a yellow taxi cab "child". The title is a play on the radio soap opera program One Man's Family. > A yellow taxi named John (voiced by Daws Butler), along with his wife Mary (a blue taxi car, voiced by June Foray), awaits the arrival of their new son, who looks just like John. Within his first few months, Junior is fed, changed, learns to "walk", gets his first "tooth" (a spark plug), etc. > When... [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044996/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044996/) [https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-video/3056-One-Cabs-Family](https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-video/3056-One-Cabs-Family) > **[One Cab's Family - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=One%2BCab%27s%2BFamily&FORM=HDRSC2)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50s-cartoon-about-earth-run-by-cars/785443/5 "2017-04-28T15:41:19Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > 60s? > [What on Earth - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_on_Earth)! > > The idea was also in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. That’s why the character named himself Ford Prefect Corrected link [What on Earth - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_on_Earth)! I think you’ve got it… Another article about the same show [https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/07/a-1960s-cartoon-hilariously-mocks-americas-car-obsession/491558/](https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/07/a-1960s-cartoon-hilariously-mocks-americas-car-obsession/491558/) ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50s-cartoon-about-earth-run-by-cars/785443/6 "2017-04-28T15:43:46Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Corrected link [What on Earth - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_on_Earth)! > > I think you’ve got it… > > Another article about the same show [Bloomberg - Are you a robot?](https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/07/a-1960s-cartoon-hilariously-mocks-americas-car-obsession/491558/) Thanks, hopefully this youtube link will parse correctly. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wFaHArkYLsM/maxresdefault.jpg "What on Earth!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFaHArkYLsM) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50s-cartoon-about-earth-run-by-cars/785443/7 "2017-04-28T15:44:08Z")
Yeah, that must be it, from the National Film Board of Canada. (1966) Here is a YouTube link to the short from the NFB: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wFaHArkYLsM/maxresdefault.jpg "What on Earth!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFaHArkYLsM) ---
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50s-cartoon-about-earth-run-by-cars/785443/8 "2017-04-28T16:02:24Z")
Y’all got it. Record time!