Oct 10, 2022

Oscar-nominated director Don Hertzfeldt's "World of Tomorrow" now available on Youtube

Don Hertzfeldt's 2016 Oscar-nominated short film "World of Tomorrow" is now available for free streaming on Youtube.

Hertzfeldt has long been one of the most popular animators on the Internet and feels it is only right that "The World of Tomorrow" has appeared on the World Wide Web alongside "Rejects," also nominated for an Academy Award.

"World of Tomorrow" utilizes Hertzfeldt's iconic ultra-minimalist design style while offering a more sophisticated digitally processed background and a more elaborate narrative structure. The World of Tomorrow is a time-traveling science fiction tale in which a clone from the future projects his consciousness into the present and speaks with Emily, the girl from whom he was cloned. Emily of the future pulls Emily Prime into her own time and shows her what the world of tomorrow will be like for the people living there.

Future Emily's dialogue is stilted and robotic, giving a lifeless feel that broadly emphasizes the lack of humanity in the future. Future Emily's tendency to fall in love with inanimate objects, non-sentient objects, and alien beasts adds to her strangeness.

Emily Prime is still a young girl at the time of the encounter and does not seem to understand most of what she is shown. Future Emily's sophisticated conversations and questions create a disconnect between the two, heightening moments of humanity when they can relate to each other on certain topics. It is heartbreaking when one understands the impact of Emily Prime's innocent and well-intentioned concern for the future Emily. As viewers, we cannot help but empathize with future Emily. Because who among us hasn't had a lonely look back at our own childhood and the dreams that never came true