To Be (1990 film)
This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary. (January 2017) |
To Be | |
---|---|
Directed by | John Weldon |
Written by | John Weldon |
Produced by | David Verrall Douglas MacDonald (executive producer) |
Starring | Kim Handysides Howard Ryshpan |
Music by | John F. Weldon |
Distributed by | National Film Board of Canada |
Release date |
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Running time | 10 min., 5 sec. |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
To Be is a Canadian animated short film released in 1990 and directed by John Weldon, who also composed its music.[1] "To Be" was nominated for a Palme d'Or for best short film in 1990.[2] From 1997 to 2002, the film was shown on Cartoon Network as part of the O Canada anthology series of National Film Board of Canada films. The film concerns an ontological problem known as the teletransportation paradox.
Plot
This section's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (June 2018) |
The cartoon opens as the narrator sings about how her thoughts of
One day, she was invited by an eminent scientist to a public exhibition of his new invention, a revolutionary
The woman now wants the invention's creator's assurance that the machine is safe; when the clone-scientist assures her he is the creator, she denies it, insisting to his frustration that he is but a copy and the original scientist has long since ceased to exist; his producing identifying documents (and a believing mother!) are of no avail. The lady then recommends the scientist ride the device but this time delaying, for five minutes, the destruction of the original; he agrees and again enters the machine. The original and his twin step out at once and quite enjoy each other's company until the lady asks which of the two is the original: naturally, neither wishes to be destroyed, and so both deny being the one who stepped into the first booth. At the lady's suggestion, a game of chess is to decide which of the two must die: one of the scientists wins and orders his double into the first booth, but the narratress counters the original would more likely be able to defeat his duplicate; thereupon, the lady and the loser force the winner into the booth to face his doom, his panicked right arm still sticking out of the shut door. We hear the same short burst as before. Lady and inventor are overcome with guilt and the latter, exiting in tears, no longer asks his questioner to ride inside the machine. Somber music plays and the narratress sings about her misguided jest; she enters the first booth and begins the process. Out of the second booth steps her likeness; the same burst is heard at the first. Her voice narrates: "I was now a guiltless copy!" As the relieved lady trips merrily away, we hear her hymn to her innocence: "...Bluebird sitting on my head, Aren't you glad my old one's dead? Hello, brook! Good morning, tree! I've just begun to be!"
References
External links
- To Be at IMDb