''Your Safety First'' was a 1956 promotional

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

created by the Automobile Manufacturers of America. The 13-minute

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

set in the year 2000 explains the

history of the automobile Development of the automobile started in 1672 with the invention of the first steam-powered vehicle, which led to the creation of the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation, built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769. Invento ...

and the improvements to comfort, performance, and safety that have been made over the years. It led to the development of the animated series ''

The Jetsons ''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produced f ...

'', which borrowed heavily on the ideas presented in the cartoon including a three-hour

work day The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of th ...

, automated flying cars, and robotic arms performing most tasks.

Synopsis

''Your Safety First'' opens with a newspaper from the distant future of October 5, 2000 with headlines reading " Space Travel to Mars" and "

tax cuts A tax cut represents a decrease in the amount of money taken from taxpayers to go towards government revenue. Tax cuts decrease the revenue of the government and increase the disposable income of taxpayers. Tax cuts usually refer to reductions in ...

". The protagonist of the short begins by debating whether to buy a new car or not as his family watches 3-D television. A show then comes on explaining the history of the automobile. The show within the show moves through the beginning of the 20th century starting with hand cranking cars and topless buggies. The clip moves through the decades explaining new inventions like

windshield wipers A windscreen wiper, windshield wiper, wiper blade (American English), or simply wiper, is a device used to remove rain, snow, ice, washer fluid, water, or debris from a vehicle's front window. Almost all motor vehicles, including cars, tru ...

and

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspend ...

systems. At the close of the short the character shown in the flashback history of the automobile jumps into a flying car and drives off.

External links

*
Your Safety First at Archive.org
1956 animated films 1956 films 1950s American animated films 1950s animated short films American animated short films Films set in 2000 1950s English-language films {{1950s-short-animation-film-stub