BBC Studios
1 HN recommender · recommended in 5 months, 2020–2025
4:16 · 729K views · Jan 21, 2017
The BBC TV version of the Babel Fish passage from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with Ford and Arthur aboard a Vogon ship, narrated over the show's hand-drawn animated Guide entry.
HN points to it for the memorable hand-animated computer graphics, which still hold up, and as the TV rendition of a famous passage.
5 comments from Hacker News
I think futuristic computer UIs in TV and films before computer graphics would make for a fascinating topic. For example, the computer UI in the BBC TV series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy deserves a mention. The low-budget series was broadcast in 1981 - a time when computer graphics were limited and not widespread in TV and film. All the "computer graphics" were hand animated to simulate a computer display. The "computer" graphics still stands up brilliantly more than 40 years later: A clip: this video
In the 1981 BBC TV series of the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' , the animated sequences simulated the look of a computer display but weren't actually computer generated. They were drawn on sheets of acetate as traditional 2D animators had done for decades. The animation is one of the most memorable aspects of the TV series and, despite being almost 40 years old, still holds up really well: this video
I believe this goes way beyond the fear of vaccination. There is rampant distrust in many of our institutions and I would argue this isn't unfounded. We are witnessing profound and fundamental issues that go beyond what some perceive as antiscience and/or racist sentiments. All this is being compounded by technology in many different ways. Everyone has the ability to create their own version of Malleus Maleficarum and publish it to the world in an instant. Social media, especially with the lockdowns, has demonstrated the limits of our evolutionary biology. Twitter often reminds me of a very crude form of the Babel fish from THHGTG[0]. It's going to take more than love and respect to overcome the effects of the virus and the response to it. [0] this video
It is from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. See this video for the TV version's rendition of this bit. If you've not yet experienced H2G2 I suggest tracking down the original radio version before the books, TV, or more modern film - it is widely available to buy in various formats. It is justly recognized as a classic.
The tv series was my introduction to Hitchhiker's. I loved the presentation of the guide entries. E.g. the babelfish at 2m5s: this video