The Bead Game (1977)

At the start of this feature, I was convinced that we were looking down on a collection of magnetically charged toilet rolls as the tiny white circles bounce about the screen illustrating the evolution of what can only be called eating. Starting with what looked like an amoeba, they split and grow, change colour, spin, whirl and expand - but always the newest one eats the old one. As the chronology develops the creatures depicted get more indentifiable, larger, and hungrier before the arrival of man and the ante is upped rather - we really do know how to devour, kill and destroy on an exponential level. Where next? Accompanied by a simple, drum-based, soundtrack this is quite an entertaining animation along the lines of something Norman McLaren might have produced, and at times it looks like some of the characters might have actually been knitted!