''Let's Pollute!'' is a 2009 animated

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 ...

created by

Geefwee Boedoe Geefwee Boedoe, sometimes credited as Gee Fwee Boedoe, is an American animator and illustrator. Career Geefwee Boedoe first worked as an animator for Disney and Pixar, collaborating on movies like '' Monsters, Inc.'', where he did the main ti ...

. The film is a modern

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

decrying

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

, waste and consumerism, animated in a fifties

educational film An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods. History Determining which videos should count as the first educational films ...

style.

Plot

After a brief history of the pollution imperative from before the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

to the present, the film follows a

nuclear family A nuclear family, elementary family, cereal-packet family or conjugal family is a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single-parent family, the larger ...

polluting its way through an average day. The narrator explains that pollution is a critical part of our culture and keeps our economy strong. The film connects our wasteful, selfish habits with consumerism and its ally, big business. The resulting out-of-control pollution of the

air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

and

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...

is displayed in scenes of dismal destruction overlaid with happy music and cheerful calls by the narrator to pollute more for a better tomorrow.

Production

"Let's Pollute!" took more than three years to complete, primarily in the home studio of filmmaker

. Boedoe wrote, directed, animated and produced the film with animation help from Tim Crawfurd and post-production help from a small team of mostly volunteers. In keeping with the 1950s style, the animation is very graphic and flat, while gritty textures underscore the pollution theme. Also in keeping with the techniques of that era and his own background of hand-drawn animation, Boedoe drew all the line work on paper with a black lithographic pencil and created the textures primarily with India ink on plastic sheets, rather than computer synthetic effects. He sketched out storyboards with pencil and paper and scanned them and artwork into his computer for editing.

Music

Much of the film's score is pre-recorded tracks by French musician

Roger Roger ''Roger Roger'' is a BBC television comedy drama written by John Sullivan. The series was about a mini-cab firm called Cresta Cabs. The pilot aired in 1996 and there were three subsequent series on BBC1 in 1998–2003. Cast and characters Mai ...

. Two original tunes, composed by

and performed by a group of his musician friends, are also on the soundtrack.

Reception and awards

"Let's Pollute!" was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

for Best Short Film, Animated, by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

(AMPAS). This is the first Academy Award nomination for Geefwee Boedoe. ''Let's Pollute!'' also took the Silver SpIFFy in the animated film category at the Spokane International Film Festival, the Big Muddy Film Festival and the

Orlando Film Festival The Orlando Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Orlando, Florida, for independent filmmakers to showcase their work. The festival attracts upwards of 1,000 entries from filmmakers in more than 30 countries every year. History The ...

References

External links

* *
Geefwee Boedoe

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Let's Pollute 2009 animated films 2009 films 2000s animated short films 2000s English-language films