The Subtitle Menu for the cult-classic DVD Southland Tales…

Here we go!

It’s time for the second and final week of my journey into the Special Features area of the Southland Tales physical DVD as I explore the animated short entitled, “This is the Way the World Ends.”

Now if you will excuse me as I toke-up and queue up this nine-minute animated short.

I’m intrigued.

And I’m baked.

The title card for This Is The Way The World Ends… from the Special Features included with the Southland Tales DVD…

I mean and I’m back.

Alright, that was dumb, my joke that is, this short is actually pretty fun. It’s very loosely connected to Southland Tales, but I’m fine with that.

It appears to me that the short is also loosely connected to the movie Water World, as we are introduced to a father and son pair of talking jellyfish. Apparently… the world has flooded leaving these jellyfish at the top of the food chain.

The citizens of the world that ends in this short animation… from the Special Features included with the Southland Tales DVD…

The father and son arrive at the ruins of one of our sunken cities. It's hard to tell where we are because they introduce a lot of landmarks.

All the other non-jelly fish suffer from defects caused by radiation. The father goes on to explain mankind and how humans led the world to be in this state of destruction.

They do a cool thing where they cut to a silhouetted animation of a puppet show. They go on to reenacts the early stages of man as they evolve too quickly and become too technically advanced for their own good. This puppet is made up of a human body with a dinosaur’s head.

Silhouetted animation from the This Is The Way The World Ends short in the Special Features includes with the Southland Tales DVD…

The father jellyfish then talks about how nations are created out of either war or peace, and this battle between good and evil leads to paranoia which leads to the Big Brother State that we see in Southland Tales. There are two scenes here that solidify this story’s link to Southland Tales.

A vandalized Treer tires sign from the Special Features includes with the Southland Tales DVD…

First… when we get to modern man, we pan down from the billboard advertising the Treet Truck, to reveal the eye soar of a polluted man-made city. The segment then ends in Nana Mae’s Big Brother monitor room.

An animated version of Nana Mae’s Big Brother Room… from the Special Features includes with the Southland Tales DVD…

The animation goes on to explain that there was also good in the hearts of man. We go on to see examples of the good things that people do for others on any given day… even this one… where… little do the people know will be their last.

There is a big nuclear explosion.

This is where I’m torn as to whether or not this animation fits into the Southland Tales world. There is no reference to the mega zeppelin or the ice cream truck, but right before the explosion… our focus is on a random healthy baby. It could be interpreted that the explosion isn’t happening outside the baby’s window but instead this is the baby with the explosive farts from The Power script.

Seann Williams Scott as an animated baby from This Is The Way The World Ends… from the Special Features includes with the Southland Tales DVD…

Then again that farting baby rapidly ages in The Power script, and that's definitely through the kid’s window.

An animated version of explosion that is featured at the start of the movie Southland Tales… from This Is The Way The World Ends… that I found in the Special Features includes with the Southland Tales DVD…

The animation ends by showing the survivors struggle until everyone is dead. The father explains that mankind’s stupidity, not knowing how to work together for the greater good of mankind, is to blame for the human’s demise.

This is followed by a nice quick twist showing that these jellyfish aren’t doing any better.