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.

 

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