I'm obliged to Skynet, AN's webmaster, for posting this video on the forums and rediscovering the gem. This is an animated short with great historical significance. It's called "Rooty Toot Toot" and was produced in 1951 by a company called UPA (United Productions of America). Some of the most significant animation talents of the day were involved in this film, including director John Hubley, Art Babbitt, Grim Natwick and several others. It was nominated for an Academy Award that year, and although it didn't win, UPA went on to artistically dominate the decade of the 1950s and beyond, leaving an influential creative legacy that endures to our own time.

Today, we look at cartoons like Rooty Toot Toot and take the design, feel, tempo and style of it for granted. But in 1951, it was an absolutely revolutionary approach to animation. Something that flew in the face of convention and everything that most in animation thought of as the way to do things. It opened new possibilities and methods of approaching the art, giving all a glimpse into what animation can achieve and the future of the craft. Even today, it still holds up and even surpasses what we think of as contemporary animation.

So without further adieu, here's the great Rooty Toot Toot for all to enjoy.

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