Peace on Earth: Difference between revisions

[[File:MGMPeaceOnEarth_3506.jpg|frame]]

 

 

The short begins with a snowy panorama of the scattered relics of mankind's existence, over a chorus of "Peace on Earth " (to the tune of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"), which is revealed to be sung by [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|a trio of squirrels]] living in a village made of discarded war materials; the most prevailing image is that of soldiers' helmets used as houses. An old squirrel greets them with a "Merry Christmas" and goes to visit his daughter and her two young children. When the children ask what one of the lyrics to "Peace on Earth" (namely "goodwill to men") means, their grandfather begins to tell them all he remembers about men. We are then shown masterly [[Rotoscoping|rotoscoped]], nightmarish scenes of human soldiers going to war with one another, [[Silly Reason for War|fighting over anything they could think of fighting over]] until the last two humans alive shoot each other. With the humans all gone, the only ones left are the furry woodland creatures, who gather in the ruins of a cathedral, and find an old [[The Bible|"book of rules"]], which the humans unfortunately didn't follow. The wise owl among them reads first a few of the ten commandments ([[Thou Shalt Not Kill]], thou shalt not steal; "Looks like a mighty good book of rules.") and then a passage which states "Ye shall rebuild the old wastes." The animals consider that a very good idea, and decide to build a civilization for themselves out of the scattered débris left by mankind. The grandfather then puts his two sleeping grandchildren to bed, seemingly glad that with the humans gone, there is now peace on Earth.

According to one person who spoke to Hugh and Rudy at a 1980's convention, the duo were planning to make a ''feature-length'' remake of this short, but it never got off the ground.

 

 

 

* [[After the End]]

* [[Apocalypse How]]: Class 3a to be precise.

* [[An Asskicking Christmas]]

* [[As the Good Book Says...]]: The title is derived from Luke ''II, xiv''. (in the King James translation): "Glory to God in the highest; and on earth, peace, good will toward men." The re-building passage read by the owl is based on Isaiah, ''LXI, iv''.: "And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations."

* [[Christmas Special]]: Probably the scariest one ever.

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: The adorable [[Woodland Creatures]] build a colorful and happy little village...out of discarded soldier's helmets, shrapnel and other debris.

* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: The grandfather, after sitting on a pin-cushion.

* [[Humanity's Wake]]: The woodland creatures pay homage to humans by keeping traditions like Christmas alive and living in towns made up of old soldier helmets.

{{quote|"Gee, I'm sure glad there ain't no more men around!"}}

* [[Kill All Humans]]: Not that the critters wanted them to, y'know.

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: We go from seeing the last two humans on Earth shoot each other to a colorful scene of [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|cute little squirrels]] gleefully building themselves a little town in the span of a couple minutes - which somehow just makes the [[Nightmare Fuel]] worse.

* [[Mutual Kill]]

* [[The Owl-Knowing One]]: Apparently he's the only animal that learned how to read somewhere.

* [[Rotoscoping]]

* [[Silly Reason for War]]: The warring factions eventually include meat-eaters fighting vegetarians, and flat-footed people fighting buck-toothed people.

* [[A World Half Full]]: "Peace on Earth, yes indeed!"

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Animated Films]]

[[Category:The 50 Greatest Cartoons]]

[[Category:Films of the 1930s]]

[[Category:The Great Depression]]