I caught a screening of The Looking Planet at the 2015 Phoenix Film Festival. While it was one of many films included in a showing of Science Fiction Shorts, it didn't have to be. What I mean by that is that it could have just as easily been at home screening with non-SciFi shorts and would have easily been at home screening with feature length films. It was that good. The difference between you, as a reader of this review, and me is that I had no idea what I was in for and you have the advantage of being told to seek this out. It can stand with any of those other types of films regardless of its short running time because of what it does with the time it has - and yes, fleshing this out to a full length feature might be an option if the ideas are there... or maybe its perfect the way it is now. What makes this film a joy is that its equal parts smart, humorous, thought provoking, beautiful to watch, and technically brilliant. It proffers one imaginative way in which our universe might have been created... and wouldn't it be grand if scientists eventually discovered that this filmmaker got it right?! Just go find this film, sit back, open your eyes ears and mind, and be prepared to leave the theatre pondering the possibilities while wearing a big grin on your face.
9 Reviews
The most wonderful film I have seen in a long LONG time
qphuo-xhyrkusdo6 September 2014
This film is incredible. It evoked more emotion in just 16 minutes than 99.9% of full-length movies out there today. Watching it is like listening to a masterpiece of music, including a moment when the music rises and reaches a note so pure and utterly, heart-breakingly beautiful it becomes transcendent. Beyond the fact that the story itself is thoughtful and poetic, the animation is gorgeous and the soundtrack ethereal. No words of praise can possibly do this work of art justice, for seeing it is more of an experience than anything else. Do yourself a favor and see it if at all possible. You absolutely will not regret it!!
touching
Kirpianuscus11 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
first, for provocative idea. second - for the extraordinary animation. not the last- for something who seems be mix between poetry and emotions and delicate humor and eccentric explanation for a masterpiece /Prometheus story who defines us. a film about a boy and about imagination/experiments/miracle /family and about... the first ancestor of crocodile. after its end, the first temptation is to define it as experience. not only ordinary. because it is like a large open window to the most wonderful miracle.and, maybe, this is the motif who legitimate it as real touching animation.because it is, in fact, a sweet homage to humankind.
Surprised by all the awards attention
Horst_In_Translation13 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"The Looking Planet" is not a bad or terrible short film by any means, but i must say it is not a good one either. Animation, characters and story are all only mediocre at best, so I am certainly surprised by this film's IMDb rating, awards recognition and reviews here. It is an animated science fiction film that runs for 16.5 minutes and maybe the reason why I did not like it that much is because I am generally not too big on the genre. The writer and director is Eric Law Anderson and it somehow shows in here that he has not made a film in over a decade. Taking that into account, it is actually a pretty good effort I must admit. Nonetheless, not good enough to let me recommend this one. I hope he can step things up for future projects again, so that the one or two fine moments in here extend over an entire (short) film.
Individual expression on a universal level
TGGeeks6 July 2015
Ben and Keith (The Two Gay Geeks) who screened this short at the first Phoenix Loves Sci- Fi Film Festival along with 20 other shorts. This was one of the ones they chose as a standout among the crowd. This was part of the second block of films on the program. It is too bad so many people left during the break. This was likely the best on the program. Keith thought it was fun and a humorous look at our planet. I will say in this short, they did a lot of universe building (insert rim shot here). Nice to self expression at its best. Ben's thoughts: One of the most charming shorts I have ever watched with plenty of nods to Magrathea from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, but drawn from a very interesting premise regarding the science regarding Earth's own moon. It was heartwarming, beautifully animated, and left me with a smile on my face by the time it finished. No wonder this fine short is award winning, it truly is a winner. We look forward to seeing more form this director.
"This is physics, boy, not fingerpainting"...
MrGKB18 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
...and this whimsical but quite smart short is film-making, boy, not home movies. Auteur writer/director/animator/producer Eric Law Anderson, who ought to be a household name, has created a loving and lovely tale of "intelligent design" that both entertains and provokes thought, no mean feat. The premise, that a cosmic adolescent--albeit fourteen-billion years old--had a hand in constructing our reality, may not be unique, but Anderson's vision and informed sense of humor surely is. I'll not do any spoiling here; this 16-minute gem deserves an innocent eye on first viewing.
I am bemused that IMDbers don't seem to be YouTubers, and possibly vice-versa. A mere hundred or so voters here, a mere seven reviews, now eight with mine, compared to 130K+ views on YouTube with hundreds of comments. It's kind of sad, really. We need more storytelling like "The Looking Planet," as well as it needing a much wider audience.
If anyone reading this hasn't seen it yet, be assured that "The Looking Planet" is more than worth the brief moments it will take to track it down on YouTube. Highly recommended.
I am bemused that IMDbers don't seem to be YouTubers, and possibly vice-versa. A mere hundred or so voters here, a mere seven reviews, now eight with mine, compared to 130K+ views on YouTube with hundreds of comments. It's kind of sad, really. We need more storytelling like "The Looking Planet," as well as it needing a much wider audience.
If anyone reading this hasn't seen it yet, be assured that "The Looking Planet" is more than worth the brief moments it will take to track it down on YouTube. Highly recommended.
Extraordinary
jamieannhickman14 November 2015
I saw this film at the 2014 Knoxville Film Festival, and I had the extraordinary experience of seeing an audience on pause. The entire film was utterly mesmerizing, but there was one particular moment (and one will know when he or she sees it) where I personally came to the slightly tearful realization that we are ALL in this together. Not sure if my fellow audience members came to the same conclusion, but in that moment, we shared something that silenced us and stilled the air. I had the notion that this film should be translated into every language and shown everywhere across the planet in hopes that everyone would have the epiphany or the aha moment that I did. In the moment, I truly felt that would be the beginning of the shift into world peace. This film spoke a message that clearly to me. But, if the least this film does is put an audience on pause, that is no less extraordinary work.
Life, the Universe, and everything...
leathurkatt20 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The Looking Planet "A tale translated from the Cosmic Background Radiation." That is the tag line for this really cute and very well animated 17 minute CGI short film. Why is it called "The Looking Planet"? Well, the film answers that question in a very interesting way, and at the center of the story is a young Cosmic Engineer named Lufo. He's creative but feels stifled doing the same thing millennium after millennium, so he finds a way to break up the monotony and discovers something unexpected in the process.
Many human artists often feel they and their creativity are being wasted on the routine rut of day-to-day life, often desperately searching for a way to break out of the daily grind, if only just once, and let that wild creative scream out for the world, the Universe, to see and hear. It would seem that humans are not so unique in this, after all.
Being someone who has been hooked on Astronomy since the tender age of eight and listening to the sound of the Universe as I look up at the stars twinkling in the night sky, I've wondered, as so many of us have, what might be out there? Are we alone in the Universe or are there other forms of life lurking among those distant stars? How did we get here? Why are we here? What are we doing or supposed to be doing? Through science fiction, the human imagination has sought increasingly creative ways to tell stories to perhaps come up with some plausible ideas. Are any of them right? Are we even close? Who is to say? But that doesn't stop us from asking those questions and finding more inventive ways to answer them as science grows ever more complex and we discover more and more secrets hiding in the Universe, waiting for someone smart enough, or perhaps creative enough, to find and understand them.
Winner of numerous awards at more than 40 film festivals across the country and around the world, The Looking Planet is well deserving of those awards, I assure you. And if you pay careful attention, you will see hints of a much deeper and far greater story yet to be told. Imagine if this were to become a full length feature film - how much of the story could be told then? If you have not seen "The Looking Planet" yet, what are you waiting for? Perhaps Einstein was right; maybe imagination truly is more important than knowledge after all.
Katt – Nerdversity 101
Many human artists often feel they and their creativity are being wasted on the routine rut of day-to-day life, often desperately searching for a way to break out of the daily grind, if only just once, and let that wild creative scream out for the world, the Universe, to see and hear. It would seem that humans are not so unique in this, after all.
Being someone who has been hooked on Astronomy since the tender age of eight and listening to the sound of the Universe as I look up at the stars twinkling in the night sky, I've wondered, as so many of us have, what might be out there? Are we alone in the Universe or are there other forms of life lurking among those distant stars? How did we get here? Why are we here? What are we doing or supposed to be doing? Through science fiction, the human imagination has sought increasingly creative ways to tell stories to perhaps come up with some plausible ideas. Are any of them right? Are we even close? Who is to say? But that doesn't stop us from asking those questions and finding more inventive ways to answer them as science grows ever more complex and we discover more and more secrets hiding in the Universe, waiting for someone smart enough, or perhaps creative enough, to find and understand them.
Winner of numerous awards at more than 40 film festivals across the country and around the world, The Looking Planet is well deserving of those awards, I assure you. And if you pay careful attention, you will see hints of a much deeper and far greater story yet to be told. Imagine if this were to become a full length feature film - how much of the story could be told then? If you have not seen "The Looking Planet" yet, what are you waiting for? Perhaps Einstein was right; maybe imagination truly is more important than knowledge after all.
Katt – Nerdversity 101
A Wonderful Short Film
shorty_xavier13 November 2015
This was one of the best short films I saw last year. It created a lasting effect upon me and I have used it as an example of short film making in several discussions throughout the year. I have tracked it's progress as it has made it's way through various festivals and garnered several awards. This is a film I would want in my collection for the opportunity to show others what a great short film looks like. I enjoyed the story, the world, the characters, and dialogue. The Looking Planet is both playful and thoughtful. It has an amazing soundtrack and an engaging story.This film is truly worth your time and will enhance your experience of short films.
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