Anybody else seen this?
Forgot to mention this short is currently on Netflix.
I wandered into it unexpectedly on Netflix a few nights ago. Very good, but very sad.
I also stumbled onto it a few days ago. I didn’t realize then that it’s Don Hertzfeldt but that makes total sense.
I thought it was quite good as well.
The AV Club had an article about this last April. I watched it several times on Vimeo and contributed to the Kickstarter for the blu-ray. I was pleasantly surprised to see it show up on Netflix streaming.
The first Hertzfeldt I ever saw, “It’s Such a Beautiful Day” is also streaming. Much longer and darker than “World” but also brilliant.
I’ve seen it twice in the theater, and since it’s a nominee for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short, it will be making the rounds in the Oscar Shorts roadshow that begins next Friday, too (where I’ll very happily see it again). It is a film that is perversely bizarre, very dark and sad, and also inspired and quite wonderful. This is Hertzfeldt’s second nod (the first was for his brilliant Rejected) and while I hope he wins, it’s probably too weird for the Academy, who prefers the broader sentiment of something like the fine-but-conventional Pixar short that’s competing against it.
Billy’s Balloon is one of the most sublime things ever created and is by far my favorite Hertzfeldt work. I have watched it hundreds of times and it never fails to reduce me to tears. It is the only video that I carry around with me at all times and I will do so until the day I die.
ETA: I look forward to seeing World of Tomorrow ASAP.
Hertzfeldt is a rare bird. He can simultaneously appeal to the meme spouting “lol so randumb” internet generation, art house critics, and animation aficionados. Check out It’s Such a Beautiful Day if you haven’t already. That’s his magnum opus.
World of Tomorrow reminded me a lot of Portal. A monotone female pseudo-human giving irreverent philosophical monologues, casual dark comedy, talking cubes, falling in love with inanimate objects, self awareness of genre tropes, lots of white space, all the energy lines and pulses, plus literal portals…might just be me.
Though great, it seemed off compared to his other stuff. As if it were targeted at some perceived millennial taste or zeitgeist. Like The Avengers. Something about the “quirky” comedy, I just can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it seemed too polished and clean, like a film made by actual professionals, whereas his other stuff seemed to be made in a shed out in the woods somewhere, like if Ted Kaczynski made a cartoon.
*World of Tomorrow *was fantastic, although I don’t know if anything can top the It’s Such A Beautiful Day trilogy for me. Hertzfeldt has the ability to make you feel depressed and inspired simultaneously.
Felt like a very short episode of Black Mirror. I could see Charlie Brooker buying it and trying to expand the experience to 45 minutes or so.
I just watched it and it was beautiful. Thanks for the heads up.
Now to watch more of his work.
I didn’t see this thread and accidentally started a new one. I really enjoyed it. Especially the dry humor. Also you may not be aware, it was just nominated for an Oscar.
Saw this as part of the shorts roadshow yesterday. Fantastic. Funny, sad, compelling, and original. I haven’t seen his recent stuff, but his earlier films were mini masterpieces.
The Pixar short that will probably win was utterly forgettable by comparison.