The House of Tomorrow is a 1949 animated theatrical short directed byTex Avery.[2] It was part of a series of cartoons Avery did satirizing technology of thefuture which included:The Car of Tomorrow,The T.V. of Tomorrow, andThe Farm of Tomorrow. These were spoofs of live-action promotional films that were commonly shown in theaters at the time.
The film is a straightforward narrated showcase of appliances said to be found in a typical house in the year 2050, roughly a hundred years after the cartoon was made, each one actually an outlandish joke. Most of the time, the inventions follow a similar pattern of being made for each member of the family, but ending with a fatal version for the "mother-in-law".
An off-screen narrator introduces The House of Tomorrow, a pre-fabricated luxury residence that unfolds from a tiny gift box. The house has separate entrances for each member of the family: for Fido, a tiny door surrounded by bones; for Junior, a door covered in muddy handprints; for the mother, a wide and curvy door to accommodate her large form from eating sweets; for the father, a saloon door; and, for the mother-in-law, a heavily barricaded door with a welcome mat that reads "SCRAM!"
Once inside, the narrator offers a tour of the house's modern conveniences, presented as a series of brief vignettes consisting ofsight gags. The house contains all of the following:
Carpeting so lush and deep that a passingbutler sinks into it up to his neck.
Aclimate control system that, with the push of a button, sends a raining thundercloud across the room
A trophy room where animal heads share space with a liquor bottle that was "killed" oneNew Year's Eve.
A button to fooltax assessors by transforming the home's appearance and its inhabitants into that of a dilapidated hovel resided in by poor people.
A machine to handle Junior's nonstop questions by yelling "Ahh, shaddap!" and plugging his mouth with atoilet plunger.
An automatic sandwich maker that shuffles slices of bread and cold cuts like playing cards before "dealing" the sandwiches to diners.
A tanning machine that flips the user with a giant spatula.
A guest chair that can adjust its shape for any visitor, whether tall, short, or the mother-in law (for her, it transforms into anelectric chair).
A three-screen television set the whole family can watch at once: a cooking show for the mother, a western for Junior, and, for the "tired businessman," a film of a beautiful woman (Joi Lansing) in a bathing suit.
Individualmedicine cabinets for each member of the family; the father's and mother's are filled with various hygiene implements, Junior's contains a single large bottle ofcastor oil with a spoon, and the mother-in-law's is filled with vials of poison.
An electric shaver that can remove not only stubble, but also almost all of a man's facial features.
A toaster that pops its users up in the air instead of the toast.
A juicer that removes the seeds from oranges by noisily spitting them into aspittoon.
A frying pan that prevents bacon from curling by hitting it with a tiny mallet.
An oven with a window to let one see everything inside (a roasting chicken screams for its modesty and pulls down a blind).
A device to remove theburps from radishes by pressing each one as it passes through, forcing out a literalburping sound.
Apressure cooker that can cook an entire meal at once; it's shown that it does so via the heat from a catastrophic explosion which sends all the food airborne, along with the stunned housewife herself.
Arefrigerator with a built-in window for those curious about whether the light turns off when the door is closed. It reveals a littlegnome-like creature pushing an "off" button each time.
As the narrator signs off, a typewritten letter suddenly appears on the screen:
PATRONS ATTENTION!!
Due to numerous requests of the tired business-men in the audience, we are going to show you the girl again.
The Management
The short then ends with a repeat of the film of Joi Lansing in her swimsuit.
