AniInterview
Sorry, this movie sucks
Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
I guess Ed Bishop's narration kept "Automania 2000" from becoming too dark and serious as, after all, this is still an animated movie. And a fairly successful one at that as it was nominated for an Academy Award over 50 years ago, but lost to Mel Brooks' entry. "Automania 2000" is about the way people in the 1960s imagined industries and life in general and what they would look like when the new millennium starts. There were some witty moments in here, but I personally felt the comedy was not that great really. The animation wasn't exactly to my liking either, but the 60s were generally not too great in terms of style and there's even worse stuff out there. After all, it is all subjective if you like the style or not, so i will rule in the film's favor and give it a thumbs-up. Pretty awkward that this film is already about a time gone for 15 years looking at how long it was back then till the year 2000 would be reached. Watch it.
ccthemovieman-1
Sometimes its interesting to see how people back a generation or two fantasized how crazy the world might get by the year 2000. Hey, I'm old enough myself to remember that the year "2000" sounded so far in the future that you couldn't imagine it. How time flies.What's even goofier are the loons who would look at this cartoon in 2008 and think, "Wow, man, that is, like, such a profound statement on materialism and such." Puh-leeze. This cartoon, although fun to watch, was absurd when it was made and is even more so today. In today's world, we are building smaller and more efficient cars and other objects. You'll always have greed and materialistic people; that's just part of our sinful makeup. I do appreciate this animated writers for pointing that out, though, and I hope they keep poking fun at those who would accumulate more and more and more. Kudos to the several writers of this "cartoon" for the satire. By the way, the writers tell us quickly that the "soon, the whole world" is accumulating these gigantic cars. If you read the plot summary, it inaccurately and biasedly blames America for this. Obviously, it's some flaming Liberal with this typical prejudice. That's not what is said in this animated short.This satire on scientists and progress gives us an absurd fantasy about how cars dominate people's lives by 2000. One has to remember how big cars became in the late '50s and then the '60s, with the huge tail fins, etc.That's one of the premises here in this exaggerated goofy look into the future. In what starts out as just one family with one huge car, escalates into 40-foot cars, automobiles then overcrowding the streets to the point they ARE the street, piled one on top of the other to the point where people live in their cars. Helicopters have to then administer food, drink, medical supplies, etc., to all those car-dwellers down below. Hey, I told you it was silly....but it's fun, and it does have a point to be made.I liked the artwork in here; very '60s-ish. This cartoon was done by the British husband-and-wife team of John Halas and Joy Batchelor. Goofy as it was with the story, it was still fun to watch.
MartinHafer
This little film is supposed to be set in the year 2000 and is all about the car. Apparently, it impressed the folks at the Oscar committee because it was nominated for an award in the category Best Cartoon Short.While I do understand that the early 1960s were not a very good time period for quality cartoons due to reduced frame rates and simplistic animation in order to save money, this film is lame even by the standards of the day. The biggest problem is that the film is neither funny nor interesting nor particularly well made. It's a lot like a dull lecture--a lecture I could have done without.
bob the moo
The year 2000; in the past year science has made massive leaps – giving us seemingly unlimited power, the ability to harvest the sea and the ability to make inexhaustible food for all. The same principles have been applied to manufacturing which has sadly overwhelmed the streets with cars. In some areas, families now live in their cars and have been stationary for almost five years now. The film looks back at the development and marketing of the "need" for bigger and better cars that ultimately led them us to this sorry state.Although the year 2000 is now the past rather than the future as seen from the early sixties this film still makes a valid point and indeed its warning about the roads of materialism and greed us more applicable today than it was then. The film uses an American voice, speaking in glowing "marketing" speak of the progress made, putting a positive spin on everything; this was perhaps an easy ploy but it works and only helps to highlight the danger of chasing the constant dream of material wealth. This is important as they film takes its point to extremes but by use of the narration, the relevance is still obvious and it still made me think. The animation is basic and dated (like a clunky Jetsons?) but it works, with the innocence of the style only adding to the sensation of science marching onwards with a blissful and cheerful lack of foresight.Overall an interesting little animation that you may find doing the rounds at liberal film festivals as part of a throwback look at commercialism and materialism.
