Nature's Half Acre

Earth, the great unknown is an American short film by James Algar from the year 1951.

Action

The film follows the course of nature on a small piece of land. In spring nature awakens, birds welcome the season with songs and dedicate themselves to build their nest soon. Different nest forms are shown as the hummingbird bolsters its nest with down artistically, while the swallows form their nests of mud. Of the nests it goes on to the pups. Caterpillars turn out in large mass as plant pests, but are decimated, because the young birds hatch and want to be fed. Numerous follow Fütterszenen and also the cuckoo cuckoo child together is shown.

In summer, the focus of the camera on bumblebee and bee, her zealous work and their predators. In addition to spiders include plants such as sundew and Venus flytrap. With Mantis and Chameleon two particularly curious animals of the small piece of land are shown. In autumn, nature prepares for its winter hibernation and various insect species pupate in different ways. In winter, life continues. Nature forms bizarre, but also beautiful structure and lets the stream that feeds the area freeze over. Only in spring nature awakens again. Time-lapse photography shows the flowering of plants. The animals are preparing for the New Year, the birds begin their singing and the caterpillars hatch from the previous year and fly as butterflies it.

Production

Earth, the great unknown was created as part of a series of " adventures of real-life " (the leader). Narrator of the film is Winston Hibler, who was also involved in the screenplay. The animation sequence at the beginning of the film comes from John Hench and Joshua Meador. The special processing of the film took Ub Iwerks ago. The film was released on 28 July 1951.

Criticism

The filmdienst called him a "work of art of high rank, as entertaining as recommended. ". Der Spiegel wrote that the film " a fascinating journey of discovery into the infinite world of some square meters x - arbitrary nature" and thereby exciting than any movie had.

Awards

Earth, the great unknown was honored in 1952 with an Oscar in the category "Best Short Film ( Reel Two ) ". He was also nominated for a BAFTA in 1953 for Best Documentary.