In postwar America, many cars and household items would have a futuristic appeal to them, and can still look cutting edge today. This short shows how, in humorous fashion, the homes americans will be living in soon are completely modern. The short begins by showing a small cube which miraculously unpacks into a full sized house, complete with two upper platforms on either side containing a swimming pool and a tennis court. Inside the house, things get even more bizarre. The narrator says if the house needs more moisture, all you have to do is push a button and a small cloud is dispatched from a door in the ceiling, which proceeds to rain all over the living room. The house also features a cutting edge chair that transforms into different forms to suit the different members of the family. For the mother-in-law, it turns into an electric chair. The bathroom contains a strange device that claims to be able to give anyone a perfect shave in seconds, but testing it on some guy just shears off every part of his face (except eyes). In the kitchen, a new appliance claims to make the arduous efforts of housewives manually cooking food obsolete. Pressure cookers of tomorrow boast the magical ability to make a complete meal just by putting the required ingredients in them. However, after doing so, it blows up and takes the kitchen with it. These are just a selection of the things shown in this cartoon, but all of them seem to have the same mocking tone; I feel like this was made to satirize people wanting everything to be futuristic, and how old, tried and true things work better. Because america had come out of World War 2 so much wealthier than going into it, it was easy for people in the late 40s and 50s to want to see the country do something with its new potential, namely futuristic cars and items that would wow any visitors or neighbors. While things like these would be nice to have, vanity and showing off won't get you far. When you look at this short from this angle, it would make sense why it has an element of comedy to it. It's still enjoyable enough regardless.
Review of La maison du futur
