"Liquid Television" deserves more recognition during this current indie animation boom. One short film showcased on the program was "Technological Threat" by Bill Kroyer, Rich Moore, and Brian Jennings. It is a great cartoon that should be relevant today in an age of AI fears.

making the robot-like entities 3D is a unique touch

Kroyer Films were innovative in combining traditional animation with CGI, back when the latter medium was beginning to rise. The short as a whole was created as an exercise to test out the waters with such a stylistic choice.

@Calzon3Studioz Didn't Kroyer direct Ferngully?

Correct.

I like how this cartoon is like a parody of Tex Avery's old cartoons.

That choice was made because, according to Bill Kroyer on the Skull Rock Podcast, in a battle between traditional methods and new technology, what better way to represent the old school than the Tex Avery MGM shorts?

Ayee!! I have this short as part of this animation collection 🥰 Technological Threat and Balance have a special place in my heart ❤️

I gotta get my hands on this DVD one of these days!

Rich Moore was a genius, between this and going on to work on The Simpsons, Futurama and even directing Wreck It Ralph.

And let's not forget his role in narrating the underground classic, "Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown"!

@allisonperryart SCAD students know this short pretty well, and got to play with these same rigs too.

The rigs of the robots? Really? That's cool.

Yeah, the rigging professor worked on this short back in 88. So anyone taking his class got to use the robot rigs.

I may or may not be working on a mini-doc about it that may or may not include Mark Mothersbaugh

This needs to be shown to not only a wider audience, but to art students as a way to inform them to stick to creating art with their own bare hands instead of relying on AI.

It's hard to get ahold of the entire series in good quality.

@funktoonmix I believe this short also used 3D CG, ironically, which I think it was partly a commentary on. Or it might’ve been overall commenting on the potential threat of computers and automation in the animation industry, idk.

@DownInkwell Love some of the faces in this. Reminds me of 50s Tex Avery

This looks amazingly accurate today’s AI situation.

@Arc_Hound That same episode has “Anyway” by Runwrake which i also loved.

The song from space war still lives in my head, but I think it was from Cartoon Sushi, not so much liquid Tv:

Of course. We humans should stay strong! Fight for power!

What part of it did Rich Moore contribute to? Maybe it contributed to him getting hired for The Simpsons?

He co-wrote the story, designed characters, and animated some scenes himself.

Wild thing is this looks like 90s animation and your right it is relevant how in todays day n age AI is running rampant

Oh snap I’ve been looking for this short for a very long time

Nominated for a Oscar only to ironically lost to Tin Toy.

I know Kroyer more for the Computer Warriors pilot than this short

Nice sound design

Technological Threat aged so well it almost feels unfair. Made as an experiment in combining traditional animation with CGI, and the subject matter basically predicted the entire conversation we're having now. Some shorts just land differently when the timing is right.

What episode is this from?

It was featured in the 18th episode of "Liquid Television", while the short itself was originally released in 1988.

@AlvinLionStarX8 Yep, it was an Academy Award Nominee. It lost to Pixar's "Tin Toy" I believe.

@AlvinLionStarX8 You're right. There's something ironic about an all-CGI short winning over a mostly cel-animated cartoon about the rise of new tech. Also, the NFB's "The Cat Came Back" was nominated in the same year. This was a stacked trio of quality!

Feels like it better represents cheap foreign labor

Love how the boss sacking people got replaced by a robot.

@sevensixfive modernism

R.I.P to the first doggo. Death from a heart attack is a sad way to go. 😢😭💔

Why does this look like the short that was nominated the same year as Tin Toy for the Best Animated Short category?

Because it was, along with the NFB's "The Cat Came Back".

This was actually featured at the music box theater in Chicago , as a headliner for an animation festival , years before it was on liquid television . I was extremely young when I saw it.

@Srirachachau adding it to The List

@EvilModeEngaged Very Ted Avery inspired lol

This feels like such a "sampled on a half dozen iconic idm tracks from the 90s" kind of thing but I can't actually think on an example to confirm

This short is so good. This was like the sneak peak on Ai. True art will never go away.