Wire Cutters [Animated Short] by Jack Anderson

A chance encounter proves fateful for 2 robots mining on a desolate planet.
Contact: [e-mail]
jackanders.com
Created By: Jack Anderson
Original Score By: Cody Bursch
Sound Design By: Jackie! Zhou
Additional Animation: Jen Re, Erica Robinson, Hunter Schmidt, Justine Stewart, Jacqueline Yee
Additional FX: Danny Corona, Matthew Robillard, Tim Trankle
Cloud FX: Chase Levin
Colorist: Bryan Smaller
Rigging: Katelyn Roland
Advisor: Bill Kroyer

[@codymartinson9518]

Moral of the story: give your smashing robot a scanner, and your scanning robot a smasher.

[@therandomlaniusedward2140]

Lol. And always mind compatibility.

[@priyanshupradhan2342]

And also give your smashing robots two hands to make it easier to hold gems instead of holding a clutter of rocks.

[@immortalsoul7172]

the moral of the story is to always bring a power adapter with you

[@slenderpaul]

Also don't programm your Robots to behave as irrational and ret. as humans.

[@markmcwilliams2461]

Moral of the Story: Scanning robot should have "passed one forward" and given the odd gem to the smashing robot, who then wouldn't have "felt" cheated and might have reciprocated. If not, well, stop scanning for him and find the smashing robot that does reciprocate and you've created the winning team based upon mutual self interest and interlocking trust :)

[@Mrstealth93]

And that's why its always a good idea having a power cable adaptor with you.

[@rajatmutalikdesaisart]

haha

[@norbertrivera]

Reminds me SONY and its proprietary connections in the 90's.

[@rrrohan2288]

or not murder ur friends

[@joaoop8695]

@@rrrohan2288 Is a good option

[@Happywhale777]

XD

[@6691Jovian]

This is an awesome analogue to our reality. Greed over the most trivial things can have catastrophic consequences. Great short in all aspects.

[@olivvcelso]

Exactly!!

[@vladalexe3503]

You summed up this animation very well!

[@AntonBrazhnyk]

Well, this was easy. Next question is a little bit harder to answer. Where is greed coming from. They'll tell you it's human nature, but they lie. Correct current answer is "capitalism".

[@dannyguitardrums]

@@AntonBrazhnyk most political beliefs are the same shit

[@AntonBrazhnyk]

@@dannyguitardrums Most of those willing to keep private property of the means of production, yes. But not all of them are willing.

[@bumfie]

Came back to this years later . Still a VERY good piece of art + Great story with a nugget at the end . Thank you Jack

[@Virtually_Char]

That's why when you're in the position of control you should always chose to be giving. The smaller robot was already finding stones much faster with the help of the big one, so it was a huge error to risk it all for one little extra.

[@robertus8239]

yes. im agree with this.

[@Juliasilva-mh9dw]

Vdd

[@WilmingtonGraphicDesign]

exactly

[@WirxawTanev]

Most importantly it was an error to be murderous. Sure, the big robot seemed to want to destroy the smaller one, but all it did eventually was take the gem. Unless the big robot intended to finish the job or destroy the hub - it'd just go ahead on its own. But the small robot went the extra mile, when a point could simply have been made. Curious approaches though. Lighter, more sophisticated and power-efficient scanner-droid from one company, and a bigger "no bullshit, just get it done" nuclear smasher from the other. What does that remind me of...

[@mysteryman6918]

Words to live by

[@xThirdOpsx]

The story was really good :) A bit sad the ending :( Really nice work!

[@jasond.valentine5931]

+Thiird it seems to have a deep message.

[@raphaelheidemann1402]

+Thiird greed got them both killed

[@GanenRo]

+Raphael Heidemann a powerful message indeed. and the big guy could have broken it again

[@roboticapple7373]

It's like wall e but it was actually good

[@GanenRo]

+Robotic Apple i would have to agree

[@bigbuba5212]

Thats why you should always have a spare wind catching solar panel

[@BuddieGui]

Team work makes the dream work until someone gets greedy. Then, everyone looses. Wicked video!!

[@LocalStarBoy]

greed is a horrible thing

[@LocalStarBoy]

*thing

[@hyjn4884]

+Diore Antonio *edit

[@LocalStarBoy]

+Doge ssshush dog you can't English right now

[@soylentgreenb]

+Diore Antonio Greed is the primary reason the world isn't as horrible as it used to be.

[@owl-kingdom844]

+Diore Antonio You're kinda right... Greed is the primary and only directive under which we all function. EVerything we do is according to what we want.

[@1stb1]

the moral of the story is that standardization of equipment is very important. everyone should've chosen betamax over vhs. wakka wakka

[@mexicopor6818]

The moral is more about greed. Betamax didn't succeed because they didn't want to share their technology. I did like betamax better than Video Home System. Greetings from Mexico

[@dwaybetoggymackinaw5893]

@@mexicopor6818 whoooosh

[@northernalpine4350]

@@mexicopor6818 Wooosh

[@wi8shad0w]

Blame porn !

[@wi8shad0w]

@@mexicopor6818 I never lived that era to comment authoritatively .. but I was told ( by ppl then and internet) that VHS gave their recording tech for free to porn industry and hence everyone had to buy VHS players ... Sometimes the most important cornerstones in tech are moved by simple business tricks .. it's humans who use it after all .. the only weak point in tech 😂😂

[@leonc9760]

This is absolutely beautiful, I’m blown away by the animation and visual story telling. I can only imagine how painstakingly long this took to create! Soo good

[@charlesthomas5956]

Moral of the story: 1: Don't be selfish 2: Always bring a power adaptor with you.

[@BatFlightThylacine]

That whole confrontation at the end could have easily been avoided if they just left the stone there until they mined more so they could equal it out. Edit: 7 years later and I'm still getting replies to this comment. At this rate I'll be dead and people will *still* be replying.

[@ramblingrob4693]

Greed

[@fiskedunser6314]

... or the small robot could've been nice and given it to the big robot and taken the next odd one itself, or it could've kept on pondering on what to do with the last crystal until the big robot stepped in and either gave it to the small robot, or took it itself. Moral of the story: If you're the one to make the choice, always remember your privilege in being the one making the choice and the fact that the others count on you to be fair, and therefore always prioritize others before yourself. In that way, you'll never seem selfish, and it will never be your fault if things go sour.

[@BatFlightThylacine]

@@fiskedunser6314 I disagree. It can totally be your fault depending on the context of the situation, and while giving the big robot the extra rock would have been a selfless act, the bigger robot might conclude that they can easily take advantage of the smaller one's kindness by pressuring them to always give the big robot the bigger share every time.

[@dumbwit662]

That's why they are robots I guess

[@fiskedunser6314]

@@BatFlightThylacine "It can totally be your fault depending on the context of the situation" Do you have an example? Also, yes I know the small robot can be taken advantage of, that's why I wrote: "it will never be your fault if things go sour." But the fact of the matter is that in real life, in many situations, there wouldn't be a hidden 4th brownie under the dinner table. So in a lot of situations, you can't just wait for the extra item (whatever that item may be) to appear and make it an even number in total. Either you (or whoever you're sharing with) has to make a choice on who gets the 3rd brownie, and if it's you, 99% of the time, it's better to lose 1 brownie than to potentially lose a friendship - and if that friend takes advantage of you and takes both the 4th brownie AND the 4th cookie (when they arrive on the table), ...well then you may have lost both extra desserts, but at least you didn't lose a friendship, since, turns out, he/she wasn't a friend after all!

[@15thTimeLord]

You leave the rock there until you get another odd set, tada. I should be a lawyer. Cheers, good work. When we got to see the cable up close it looked phenomenal. Looked good, fun story.

[@zepplenlives9662]

or just alternate odd rocks

[@koala7254]

yeah... one would assume binary entities should be capable of solving such trivial math....

[@therandomlaniusedward2140]

Or maybe calculate the mass, and sever it in a correct order

[@garyhamilton2104]

Perhaps the value isn't based purely on mass

[@allisonjames2923]

Exactly what I thought! I’d say alternate, but they were down to basic communication, so hard to get across that concept & maintain trust

[@daveys]

Excellent video. Beautifully made and a joy to watch. Well done!

[@heidilane7055]

The little robot’s face and eyes are so expressive! Loved it!

[@kaytlinjustis5643]

In a way, it reminds me of a childhood story of a happy dog because he was given a bone. One day, he comes across a river of a lake and sees another dog holding its own bone. In his greed, the dog thinks he can just take the other dog's bone. But when he opens his mouth, he drops his own bone because the 'other dog' was only a reflection. The morale is that you should be thankful for what you have, otherwise you may wind up with nothing. These robots paint a very similar picture, so thank you for the story and animation! ^^

[@leostgeorge2080]

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?

[@bentrizzytritrofy7200]

That's true..😊

[@TheIronManOfSteel]

Ah yes. Aesop.

[@ukestudio3002]

Fox and the crow. - Crow has cheese. Fox praises crow’s voice. Crow sings, drops cheese. Fox eats.

[@blixten2928]

Aesop's fable, inherited from ancient Rome, if I am not mistaken.

[@mrose8748]

I think the beginning is beautiful too robots from too companies working together. Then... GREED.

[@siberianhuskybudthegreywol9202]

+hello universe two...

[@vizthex]

+hello universe I think real robots wouldn't do that, unless true AI exists in this, and if it's in the future

[@gumo2445]

too robots? too companies? wait... "too"?

[@bayleefie]

composer zero -Two*-

[@saltymarine]

Really good !! Thanks for posting !!

[@lisfree1257]

Такая потрясающая анимация была сделана 8 лет назад, этот человек был восхитителен в своём деле. Жаль что он ушёл

[@pandger328]

Согласен

[@auroralong5437]

This really made me think. it was kind of predictable that they would eventually get an odd number but i didn't predict the ending, loved it

[@Andrew-Johnson]

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:13 💙✨

[@DanHaddock]

That was a masterpiece in strorytelling as well as well crafted animation. Keep up the great work man, you got massive potential.

[@ethics3]

"Masterpiece of story telling " ??? Its an 8 minute cartoon for gods sakes !

[@Rufio1975]

@@ethics3 Chill out Dick head. There's always one in the bunch that tries to spoil everything. Your mommy must be proud of you.

[@DrCheddarBaptisteAlligator9]

@@Rufio1975 he's right though. It's hardly a masterpiece. Everybody just throws around words like they don't have any meaning or context. It seems to me like it's you that has your nuts in a ruck pal *That's not too say it isn't fine or a lot of work hasn't gone into it, it's just not a master piece

[@7Volkan6]

@@ethics3 why do people think their words carry any weight? No one gives a shit about your opinion.

[@sw00t_yprd79]

Jesus Christ is the King 👑 of salvation and he loves you

[@rommelgalicia7283]

A mesmerizing CGI short! Bravo! 👏👏👏

[@petergambier]

Nice one Jack. Love the characters, sounds and story thanks. You will go far.

[@Andrew-Johnson]

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5

[@TheJon430]

Reminds be of WALL·E. What a great movie :)

[@fuckyoutubecomments7530]

I was thinking that!

[@neilfroggycrompton2466]

+Caolán Tominey me too :D

[@Cooliostuff]

true!

[@quirkrserenefrenzy6139]

This reminds me of machinarium

[@autopilot8530]

Jon me too

[@obliviousfafnir01]

Huh. They must be made by Apple.

[@gumo2445]

One from Apple and one from Microsoft :)

[@fritzd2116]

That was really enjoyable! Thank you.

[@paulorego9334]

So good! Thoroughly enjoyed this.

[@julielaureano7340]

my emotions were swinging.... the ending...ahh why!? you did so good on this thesis.

[@omersar4221]

it was wonderful and showed off human nature : being greedy and ask for more and more . in our world , everything ends like this sooner or later. both side lose , no winner .thanks for well -made animation .

[@koala7254]

so anyone could tell me why binary creatures should or even could be like this?

[@koala7254]

@@therandomlaniusedward2140 this pov kind of makes you a misanthrope.

[@therandomlaniusedward2140]

@@koala7254 maybe it's because of their directive to collect minerals. They probably were engineered to work independently, and the programmer might not inserted other directives.

[@priyanshupradhan2342]

@@koala7254 Thats not a misanthrope point of view.

[@koala7254]

@@priyanshupradhan2342 i did a comment on something "the random ianus edward" wrote. (something like "misanthropes don't deserve to live" ) he deleted it afterwards. i did not comment ömer san.

[@GenFalcon]

Teamwork and sharing, defeated by greed and anger. Awesome video with not a single word. Beautiful.

[@BillyEilish]

Great work, I can honestly see the effort put into the colors and sound... without even mentioning all the rest.. Bravo!!

[@darthalex314]

Jack Anderson, you deserving a fking Oscar for this.

[@angusallen-barr1320]

Such a sad ending :( Very powerful animation.

[@christopherklopp]

this was awesome! great job!

[@edwardturner1282]

Outstanding creativity here.

[@Tacidful]

A morale you could take away from this is "Short term pleasure, long term effects."

[@arieldario3849]

just imagine that those green rocks, are dollars. ;)

[@sedrickmalcolm]

+ariel kurachi !

[@awasomeme6441]

Hhhhh ... greed will happen again ... it is better with robots. Cause we are worse.

[@user-wp8xf2tc4e]

Me wondering where the "Damn Apple Chargers." Comment went to.

[@manfredmelcher7803]

A lovely film. Great story and fantastic visuals.

[@GB3770]

absolutely excellent characters...pacing...rendering and message...truly superb...well done....

[@teslavate]

Excellent, great graphics and well executed, with an original storyline. 9 out of 10

[@canadiangemstones7636]

This is superb!

[@pipersall6761]

Good job. Nicely done.

[@filatglebov8653]

This is brilliant. Deserves and probably will get more views.

[@ScibbieGames]

You deserve at least some kind of award for this. very fun to look at :)

[@asoawrahman9218]

A very nice story, that speaks for itself, when look from the technological perspective, you see that the first robot uses clean energy (wind-power) and also equipped with functional robot-arm, and lenses for the eyes, while the second robot uses nuclear energy which is radioactive, they focused more on power and longevity of the robot, not the functionality. It show case that these two technologies were made by one creater(Human). Our knowledge and power to build the future, only works when we collaborate with each other, and share our power and technologies as a HUMAN beings!!

[@shawshank178]

Brilliant work!

[@RoseLe]

Great story and animation +Jack Anderson! Hope you are working on another great animation! :)

[@naturetrader7063]

I expect great things from you, who ever wrote the story is also a talent too!

[@ovalwingnut]

Story line is everything.. GR8T Job!

[@Paul_Crosbie]

Absolutely brilliant😉

[@lanylevendula]

It's so interesting, because first you would think the little one was the helpful and the bigger one was the greedy. It's amazing. No wonder it won so many awards. Amazing work from amazing people.

[@grandovercrap3014]

@@TheFriendlyFascist The bigger one was more efficient thought it didnt have a scanner, because it inevitably wouldve collected more green rock thingys The scanner robot couldnt have smash those big rocks to gather crystals though, only able to find ones in the open which wouldve been very unlikely

[@calamar1e320]

@@grandovercrap3014 still, think about how many green rocks the smasher robot probably crawled right by without realizing for however long it had been stationed there mining.

[@calamar1e320]

@@lss7850 every rock in its' path, or at random, depending on how it was made. But every rock would be a bit of a task for one smasher bot I'd imagine

[@andyaim4764]

It’s not about robots it’s about us!!!!

[@sarahwatts8184]

wdym first?

[@CaptJackPal]

You cant just get me invested in these guys and then give a sad ending.

[@LiMCRiMZ]

Turns out they not only can, they did! Lol

[@aether3885]

Yeah this was like a depressing version of Wall-E lol

[@StoryGirl17]

I agree. They could've been best friends. There was so much sadness in the optics of the bigger robot when the small robot betrayed him, can't... 😭😭😭 And that little robo was so cute! 😢

[@neanntv]

Some videos teach us a lot of things without say any word... Good work friend.

[@sunsetpark_fpv]

Absolutely brilliant! This is a great story coupled with great animation!

[@designwithphoenix]

this is really inspiring to watch.

[@emelyeemelye]

Brilliant! Loved it. Bots before rocks always :)

[@AdamSharpe-ih8xz]

Brilliant!

[@Go_Globe]

So damn good mate, very beautiful

[@ireneelisabethhitchcock1365]

Oh my gosh! This is genius. MORE, please. 3 cheers from NZ!

[@abhirajbanerjee9777]

Awesome story and animation. fell in love with it

[@jacksflicks]

Thank you!

[@MoodRealm_Native]

Anytime someone animates robots it's like a blessing

[@ferencszabo3504]

2023 and this is still a masterpiece on every front! Maybe the making breakdown in the future?

[@jmel1000]

sometimes i wish these short animated films would go on to be a whole movie! even without the words it's amazing.

[@darryl.llanura]

I usually like videos after watching it. But this one, it only took me a minute. Awesome work Jack Anderson! Story and animation is very good, ending is sad though. Vsauce brought me here BTW.

[@jukle89]

Stephen Hawkings did for me

[@RoTaylorsVersion]

Amazing!

[@user-me7bb5ud4f]

reeeaaalllly really ENJOY This MASTERPIECE

[@brazenh2836]

I thought the big robot would end up biting the gem in half but this ending had a good moral as well...

[@kennycurran6938]

A simple and wonderful illustration of how our differences could be a blessing to one another, if it weren't for the cancer of greed. It would be great if they could show content like this in our elementary schools.

[@lizzybelle6576]

Thank You 🙏

[@user-fd1ne7vs3u]

absolutely excellent characters...pacing...rendering and message...truly superb...well done..... absolutely excellent characters...pacing...rendering and message...truly superb...well done.....

[@theriffwriter2194]

Great allegory for the real world.

[@BlackWater_49]

6:00 This is such a good metaphor for humanity. Little conflict solving skills and willing to risk ones own survival (here by deploying the vital solar cell kite against the opponent) just to get one up on the other regardless of how pointless it is.

[@julianaustin8650]

Whoever made this should make this an ongoing short film series, in fact, someone should turn this short film into a movie like they did with the short film 9

[@_d_h_]

really nice work!!!

[@tyharrison7619]

absolutely need a film or I'm gonna die

[@MrMartechi]

well that was depressing, but very very good!

[@ProudTwinkie]

This was amazing

[@jaykishantomar6318]

Just Brilliant

[@talklesssWorld]

This was a great story about not cutting off your nose to spite your face. Amazing job

[@elisabethlamarr2973]

poor robot all it wanted was to do its job

[@davidross5640]

a timeless story... well done...

[@JT-91]

love the short man. The fight for the rock reminds me of life growing up on the south side. every bang tryna hard to push them rocks

[@nerdtvch5]

That's what you get for not sharing. :P Sadly with no real way to communicate. You'd have to manage to a way to show how to say, "ok you get the one extra this time, and i get the one extra next time" but this was fantastic, showing, "yes you win, but at what cost?"

[@simpleflour2829]

It could've just simply put the green rock on the ground and wait until they get more rocks

[@justinmohr1700]

Congratulations, you played yourself

[@piotrd.4850]

Absolutely Pixar-worty quality and creativity wise!!! Terrific!

[@ddool]

great work

[@NanoForest]

anyone here from vsauce

[@AsterixMiguelix]

+NanoForest Hey Vsauce

[@lukadjekic370]

me

[@cool2570]

+NanoForest DONG

[@renevanderweerd6083]

+NanoForest yep me

[@kapper8379]

+NanoForest Me :)

[@ttvjackiplier2509]

i love the symbiotic symbolism of this short. and then the conflict when there was an odd amount of crystals **mwah** chefs kiss

[@caalcazar]

Excelente publicación!!!! Éxitos y trascendencia!!!

[@nargismohammad2873]

Do you have any upcoming projects cause I would be really glad to see more of your talent and amazing hard work..

[@blumpist437]

This is an amazing story to it's core, it really allows one to question the true purpose of ones self while trying to understand the struggles of others. We never know why the robots are there, or why they remain there, it doesn't matter. These two robots were so lost in their mission and search for self preservation that they never thought to consider the lives of others. They both were selfish and greedy, so they paid the ultimate price.

[@adambelko7715]

amazing!

[@keith_5584]

The flexible solar chute is a nice touch. Believe it or not that could be a real thing and could have been possible at the time this video was made.

[@ManelRuivo]

very neat idea! nice character design, nice story! nice animation! deserved a better sound design! really beautifull work!

[@davidlewis4013]

Cool film! Reminds me of 'Balance' 1989 by Lauenstein - Another cool animated short

[@jacksflicks]

Thanks you! Yes!! Huge inspiration

[@NunoFranca]

Wonderful!

[@gabrielmartinez6639]

I was surprised to see that you subscribers was under 3,000. This was great. I am subscribing

[@heyitsbankcj4714]

In the ending (plug doesn't fit) "well fuck"