Cavallette

This is a very clever cartoon that manages to tell the story of mankind from its inception until today! Considering it only takes about 9 minutes, I was quite impressed--especially since I am a world history teacher. In fact, the film does such a great job that I am thinking about showing it to my students to review what we learn each year.

The cartoon is very simply animated and the biggest reason I liked it was its kooky sensibilities. Instead of focusing on the great moments of human endeavor, it chooses instead to basically show people killing each other again and again and again through the ages. Usually, it was all very funny to watch, but behind all this was a great cynical message about the stupidity of our species! Clever, insightful and inspired--this is an exceptional short.