Earth, the great unknown
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Earth, the great unknown |
| Original title | Nature's Half Acre |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1951 |
| length | 33 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | James Algar |
| script |
Winston Hibler Ted Sears James Algar |
| production |
Walt Disney for Walt Disney Productions |
| music | Paul J. Smith |
| camera |
Murl Deusing Karl H. Maslowski Arthur A. Allen Alfred G. Milotte Joseph Heidenkamp Tom Hadley Arlene Hadley Olin Sewall Pettingill William Norman Jupe John Nash Ott (time lapse) Stuart W. Jewell (time lapse) |
| cut | Norman Palmer |
Earth, the Great Unknown is a 1951 American short film directed by James Algar .
action
The film follows the course of nature on a small piece of land. In spring nature wakes up, birds greet the season with songs and soon devote themselves to building their nests. Different nest shapes are shown, the hummingbird upholstered its nest artistically with down, while the swallows make their nests out of clay. From the nests it goes on to the young animals. Butterfly caterpillars prove to be pests of plants in large numbers, but are decimated because the young birds of the birds hatch and want to be fed. Numerous feeding scenes follow and the cuckoo and cuckoo child are also shown.
In summer the camera focuses on bumblebees and bees, their hard work and their predators. In addition to spiders, this also includes plants such as the sundew and the Venus flytrap . With praying mantis and chameleon , two particularly curious animals of the small piece of land are shown. In autumn, nature prepares for hibernation and different species of caterpillars pupate in different ways. Life stops in winter. Nature forms bizarre, but also beautiful structures and freezes the stream that feeds the area. Nature only wakes up again in spring. Time lapse photography shows the plants blooming. The animals prepare for the new year, the birds begin their song and the caterpillars from the previous year hatch and fly away as butterflies.
production
Earth, the great unknown was created as part of a series of "real-life adventures" (so the opening credits). The film's narrator is Winston Hibler , who was also involved in the script. The animation sequence at the beginning of the film is from John Hench and Joshua Meador . The special processing of the film was carried out by Ub Iwerks . The film was released on July 28, 1951.
criticism
The film service called it a "work of art of high standing, as entertaining as it is recommendable." Der Spiegel wrote that the film was "a fascinating journey of discovery into the infinite world of a few square meters of any nature" and that it was more exciting than any feature film.
Awards
Earth, the great unknown , was awarded an Oscar in 1952 in the category “ Best Short Film (Two Reel) ”. He was also nominated for a BAFTA for Best Documentary in 1953 .
Web links
- Earth, the great unknown in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Earth, the great unknown. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ New in Germany: Alice in Wonderland . In: Der Spiegel , No. 1, 1953, p. 24.