"Is It Always Right to Be Right?" is an 8-minute animated short film from 1970 and regardless what you may think of the spoken contents here, this film's main problem is the animation, which looks pretty bad even for soon 50 years ago. The texts in here are spoken by Orson Welles and are a mix of intelligent, intellectual and pretentious quotes about how it is easier to live together with other people in terms of finding common consensus. I myself did not enjoy the watch. It is pretty pathetic to see this child-like animation and then hear these heavy words coming out of Welles' mouth at the same time. For me, it wasn't working. I may be wrong, but this is not a good short film and certainly not Oscar worthy. I guess they just wanted to awards the big name that came with this movie as this was nothing usual in the Animated Short Film category. Don't watch.

Lee Mishkin's Oscar-winning "Is It Always Right to Be Right?" looks partly at the generation gap of the 1960s but more generally at polarization in general: both sides are so convinced of their rectitude that society suffers stagnation. Sound familiar? Narrated by Orson Welles, the cartoon makes the point that both sides have legitimate arguments. The setting never gets identified but it's clearly the US, with the adults emphasizing the high quality of life and the young people emphasizing the prominence of racism and militarism. All very important points.This cartoon reminds us that not only do cartoons not have to be "cute" (animation is simply another type of filmmaking), but it's one of the best ways to draw attention to society's problems. I definitely recommend it.

I can't compare this film to the other two Oscar nominees for 1971, as they apparently are not available. I assume that IS IT ALWAYS RIGHT TO BE RIGHT? was the best film, as it won...plus I really liked the film--even though it may seem a tad preachy.This cartoon is about all the negative and polarizing issues we were confronted with in America at the time--racism,the generation gap, the war in Vietnam, etc.. In dealing with these issues, the film takes an amazingly neutral view--and suggests we all do the same. Now this does NOT mean that we should necessarily allow evil, but that we should all learn not to be so dogmatic and try to see the truth in both sides of the issue. In other words, seldom, if ever, is one side 100% right and being "right" should not be the goal but learning to understand and cooperate. It's all told through a parable and it's very clever. While it's all a bit obvious and perhaps preachy, the message is a good one and this film was incredibly timely back when it debuted.As for the animation style, it ain't much to look at, but this was the case for all animation at the time. Simplistic backgrounds, low frame-rates and hastily drawn characters were all the norm, so I can't really penalize the film too much--it was a product of the times.Fortunately, in addition to the nice message, clever parable and decent artwork, the film makers were also able to persuade Orson Welles to narrate--giving the film some clout and a touch of class.Overall, a nice film--one that I wouldn't mind seeing again sometime.

In 1972 I started teaching Race Relations in the Air Force. Many say that the Armed Services are conservative or bigoted, but this is an example of the forward thinking of the Air Force as this was one of the first films purchased for our program. It is probably one of the most powerful short films about bigotry and closed mindedness I have ever seen. Men and women of all ranks thought that the message was clear and meaningful. I wish it were available today, I am still in Social Work and while I primarily do therapy, the message is applicable to marriage counseling, domestic violence, anger control and even substance abuse group therapy. If any one has a copy I would appreciate contacting me at [email protected]