Midweek Matinee: Destination Earth, 1956

All photos are frame grabs from video below.

Everything you need to know about what makes America’s oil industry great, presented as an animated cartoon: Like a prequel to The Jetsons, but with an agenda.

First, a snippet of what a totalitarian government is like on Mars, under the rule of the bombastic OGG the Magnificent.

OGG has a problem: his state limousine has considerable friction-related issues, but he’s willing to fund an interplanetary expedition to research a solution.

Colonel Cosmic dutifully volunteers.

Once on Earth, CC discovers not only the oil industry…

…but also its long-time buddies: petroleum-based research and development, the free enterprise system and a democratic form of government. Not to mention a public library.

Exactly what will the good Colonel do with this new-found wealth of knowledge? Will he be caught? Will ET phone home? Grab a cup and invest your next 13.6-minute break to find out.

Public domain archival footage courtesy of the Internet Moving Images Archive, in association with Prelinger Archives.