Evolution (1971 film)

{{Short description|1971 film by Michael Mills}}

{{italic title}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Evolution

| image =

| caption =

| director = Michael Mills

| writer = Michael Mills

| producer = Michael Mills
Robert Verrall (exec.)

| starring =

| cinematography = Kjeld Nielsen (animation)

| editing = Peter Hearn (sound)

| music = Doug Randle

| studio = National Film Board of Canada

| distributor = National Film Board of Canada

| released = {{Film date|1971}}

| runtime = 10 minutes

| country = Canada

| language =

| budget =

}}

Evolution (Évolution) is a 1971 animated short film created by Michael Mills for the National Film Board of Canada.{{cite web |title=Evolution |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/evolution_en/ |website=nfb.ca |publisher=National Film Board of Canada |access-date=21 April 2023}}{{cite book|last=Lenburg|first=Jeff |title=Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVShFCjVzvIC&q=%22Michael+Mills%22+Evolution&pg=PA242|page=242|year=2006|publisher=Applause Books|isbn=978-1-55783-671-7}}{{cite web|title=Evolution/Évolution|url=http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=11119|work=Collections page|publisher=National Film Board of Canada|access-date=18 January 2011}}

Evolution offers a humorous portrayal of evolution. In 10 minutes, it covers everything, from single-celled amoebae romping about the ocean depths, to the first amphibious creatures crawling onto land, to the forefathers of Homo sapiens.{{cite book|last=Wise|first=Wyndham|author-link = Wyndham Wise | title=Take One's Essential Guide to Canadian Film|year=2001|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-3512-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m4Y_OgckDmIC&q=%22Michael+Mills%22+Evolution&pg=PA72|page=72}}

Evolution won Best Animated Film at the 23rd Canadian Film Awards, the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1972 Kraków Film Festival, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 44th Academy Awards.{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Gary|title=In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989 |year=1991|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-6833-0|url=https://archive.org/details/innationalintere0000evan|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/innationalintere0000evan/page/330 330]|chapter=Appendix four: Oscar nominations and awards through 1989}}{{cite web|url=http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoons-considered-for-an-academy-award-1971/|title=Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award 1971 -|website=cartoonresearch.com}}