November 25, 2014

A Paper Puppet Homage to Microbes

The amazing power duo of Flora Lichtman and Sharon Shattuck (Sweet Fern Productions) has come out with a new animated short on the discovery of microbes.

By Carin Bondar

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

The amazing power duo of Flora Lichtman and Sharon Shattuck (Sweet Fern Productions) has come out with a new animated short on the discovery of microbes. I’ve written about their stunning use of paper art and puppetry before, and their current short film does not disappoint. According to their website:

This video is the debut of a new Op-Docs series called “Animated Life,” a collaboration between Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s BioInteractive and The New York Times. Born from a previous Op-Doc, “The Animated Life of A.R. Wallace” (which features the other guy who discovered natural selection), the series will explore pivotal moments of discovery, and the characters past and present who have driven us to see the world in new ways.

The film tells the story of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who changed the course of biology in 1674 when he first looked at a drop of lake water under a microscope. In doing so he revealed the amazing diversity of the organisms that had been previously undetected. The film is brilliantly researched, presented and produced. I cannot wait for more work from this dynamic duo!

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