Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context WesternAnimation / WorldOfTomorrow

Go To

1[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/worldoftomorrow.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:220:What a happy day it is!]]
3
4->''"Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead."''
5-->-- '''Emily Clone'''
6
7''World of Tomorrow'' is a short sci-fi 2015 film by Creator/DonHertzfeldt, and is the first of his works to be animated digitally. The story is told using a simplistic line-drawing style and is about a little girl who is contacted by her clone in the distant future. What follows is a strange mix of a young girl's blind enthusiasm and an ancient clone's robotic descriptions of the very doomed future.
8
9The film has received many accolades for its simple, yet deep and heartfelt presentation.
10
11In 2017 Hertzfeldt released a sequel, "World Of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden Of Other People's Thoughts", where Emily journeys through the memories of one of her future self's back-up clones. A third installment, titled "World Of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations Of David Prime", was released in 2020, and involves Emily sending a message through time to try and save her husband from his untimely death.
12
13----
14!!Tropes that apply to ''World Of Tomorrow:''
15
16%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
17* AndIMustScream: Having one's consciousness loaded into a cube where time slows to a crawl seems to be this, if one of the (many) letters sent out is any indication.
18-->''Oh oh God oh God oh God oh my God holy mother of God oh oh oh oh God.''
19* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler:At least a Stellar-level one, as all outposts outside of Earth are going to be destroyed as well]].
20* ArmorPiercingResponse: [[spoiler:Clone!Emily spends a good deal of time talking about her deceased husband David and a memory of his she's viewed several thousand times. Prime!Emily's simple comment stops not only her clone, but the background music itself]].
21-->"You missed him."
22%%* BadFuture
23* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Emily-Prime has her whole life ahead of her, but that won't change the sadness and hardships she will go through in the future. But no matter what happens -- what a happy day it is!]]
24* BlackComedy: Much of the humor is derived from young Emily's blithe reactions to horrible news, like the pretty shiny stars that are actually dead bodies being burned up in space through failed time travel.
25* UsefulNotes/BritishAccents: Both the Emilys have the ReceivedPronunciation type, but it's more pronounced on the cloned Emily.
26* CheerfulChild: Emily-Prime.
27* ChildrenAreInnocent: Young Emily doesn't really understand the 'doomed future' she hears of, preferring to focus on the bright colors and fun visuals of the Outernet and her future memories.
28* ClarkesThirdLaw: Discussed.
29-->"Yes, Emily Prime. To the people of your time, our technology must seem like magic."
30* CloneDegeneration: Emily explains that the clones get worse with each generation. [[spoiler:The final David clone was in such a state that his line was ended. The Emily clone also seems to have more defects than she realizes, as she is prone to random eye spasms and is emotionally stunted in a way Prime!Emily is not]].
31* CompanionCube: While stranded away from humanity on other moons and planets, Emily fell in love with a rock and a gas pump.
32* CreepyMonotone: Emily-Clone speaks with one of these.
33* DissonantSerenity: [[spoiler:Clone Emily is very calm about how she and the human race are all going to "die horribly."]]
34%%* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt
35* FlightOfRomance: Future Emily explains how she and Simon romantically sailed within balloons on Mars.
36* HopeSpot: Inverted. [[spoiler:At the very end, the young Emily is transported back before humans existed in a rather dark BrickJoke. Her smile slowly slips away as the shot holds for a long, long time. Just as we think the film will end with Emily stranded and left to die, she's teleported back into her own time and current home.]]
37* InterspeciesRomance: The Emily clone fell in love with a gibberish-speaking alien she named Simon. She also fell in love with inanimate objects, like a sparkly rock and a fuel pump.
38* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler:Emily's husband, David. The lengthy, abstract description of the grief she still feels for him can only be described as "TranquilFury, except with [[NotSoStoic sadness]]".]]
39* MinimalistCast: There's really only the two Emilys, plus a few mentions of Clone Emily's past loves.
40* MyFutureSelfAndMe: The entire plot of the short revolves around this premise.
41* SpockSpeak: See CreepyMonotone.
42* StableTimeLoop: Clone!Emily recalls the memories of Prime!Emily's experiences. Prime's memories are what cause the clone to try reconnecting to people, and eventually contact Prime Emily herself.
43* SurrealHorror[=/=]SurrealHumor: The short wavers between the two, showcasing horrific futuristic scenarios in a very blasé fashion.
44* TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace: Future Emily explains that time travel is still very unpredictable and extremely dangerous in her time: "If the position of the orbiting earth is not accurately calculated, a person can be sent off the planet. Many of our brave test clones are also still regularly crushed beneath the ground, or accidentally deposited hundreds of thousands of years into the past."
45* TimeTravelEscape: [[spoiler:A number of people try to escape the apocalypse by jumping to a different time period with discount time travel. "Their dead bodies burn as they return to Earth and now light up our night sky."]]
46* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: What happened to Simon after Emily left him is never discussed.

Top