Despite interpretations (or misinterpretations) of the Mayan calendar, the world didn't end Friday, which is why you're able to read this. However, just to be on the safe side, some panic-stricken folks took refuge in mountains or bunkers. Some of the less panicky partied like it was their last chance.
Here's my favorite cartoon about the end of days:
KoKo's Earth Control (Inkwell Imps; Inkwell Studios, 1928)
We see Max Fleischer's hands, with inkwell and pen, drawing KoKo the clown and his dog. After circling the earth, KoKo and the mischievous dog come to a building with "CONTROL OF EARTH" emblazoned on the portico. They enter the building to find themselves in a control room with levers and signs all over the place. One of them is a warning sign, "Do Not Touch"... or the Earth will be destroyed! KoKo finds a relatively harmless one, and, using the lever, causes rain.
The dog begins to play with the Earth Control lever, and an exasperated KoKo pulls him away, with a struggle commencing between them. The dog finally manages to get away and pulls the lever, causing everything to go "blooey!" Earthquakes and other natural disasters ensue.
The Earth explodes, causing a big crack to form in front of Bimbo. Streets go aslant and buildings collapse. In the end, KoKo and his dog jump into the ink bottle to escape. They end up as blots on Fleischer's table.
And your favorite(s)...?
(This post was edited by eminovitz on Dec 22, 2012, 3:28 PM)
"Thundarr The Barbarian" from 1980 to 1982 dealt with an apocalypse as its premise. Very heavy for a Saturday Morning adventure cartoon.
A runaway meteor had cracked open the moon and destroyed life on Earth in 1994. 2000 years later, Earth is reborn with sorcerers and warriors using magic and super science to rule the entire world. Thundarr, a slave, breaks his bonds and with his companions, Princess Ariel the sorceress and Ookla the Mok, roam the ruined cities of Earth to battle evil villains.
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"Don't chew gum on camera. Don't whistle. You may kiss Bob Barker but please don't kill him." -announcer Johnny Olson briefing the audience of potential contestants for "The Price is Right"
(This post was edited by artytoons on Dec 22, 2012, 6:17 PM)
A Short Vision (Foldes, 1956) In this British short (made by a husband-and-wife team), a mother plays with her baby. A man watches television. Another goes home from work. The trains run. A bar is open for drinks. Unbeknownst to them, under the cover of darkness, a stealth-like object flying under the radar approaches. Silently, the object comes. It is an H-bomb. It explodes over the city. In an instant, people's skeletons are visible as in an X-ray; their eyes fall from their sockets while their skin melts off. Everyone and everything is destroyed. Gone. There is nothing left, save for one small flame and a moth. The moth, the only life left anywhere, flies into the flame. Due to its extreme violence, this was the first British cartoon to be X-rated (adults only) in Great Britain under the British Board of Film Censors classification system.
Rock & Rule (Nelvana Limited, 1983) In the far future after man is extinct due to a nuclear war, the stray dogs, cats and rats evolve into intelligent humanoid species known as the Moks. An evil deranged music mogul named Mok, and his lackeys search the world for a voice with a special quality. The voice is the final element that Mok needs for an evil spell that will summon an all-powerful demon. This movie is also known as Drats, Ring Of Power and Rock 'N' Rule.
In the I Am Weasel episode "I Are Legend" I.R. Baboon, Weasel, and the Red Guy believe that they are the last people on Earth. In reality, everyone is merely watching their tv show. That's why no one is around outside.
In the uncut version of "Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24 and 1/2 Century" Marvin successfully launches his misile towards the Earth, telling us Earthlings not to worry as it will take three whole days for it to reach the Earth, so everyone will have plenty of time to get their affairs in order.
Dare I mention that when I saw this on Daffy Duck Gives Thanks to Thanksgiving as a child back in third grade, I actually thought this was going to happen? Strangely enough, I wasn't too upset either.
In "The Big Snit" a gigantic nuclear war is going on outside--but the husband and wife are too busy arguing over their scrabble game to realize this. Finally a nuclear bomb goes off when they open the door outside and are launched to Heaven--where still ignorant, the couple return to their scrabble game.
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"Homer,we just brought Flanders back from the dead. Did you use the notebook to make a flock of penguins peck him to death?" Marge-"Murder He Wrote"-a Simpsons Comic story.
Well, not quite an end technically, but the future Earth in Pixar's Wall·E comes close. After consumerism goes haywire, to the point where Buy N Large has purchased the government in a hostile takeover, Earth is drowning in trash. Buy N Large herds humanity onto huge ocean liners IN SPACE while goofy little robots work to get rid of the garbage. This project was supposed to take five years; after seven hundred years, Earth is still a dump, with only one surviving Wall·E robot left to manage the mess.
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Life imitates cartoons. Don't believe me? Try typing "You're doing it wrong" into your search engine. * I have no idea how these fools survive themselves.
Ralph Bakshi's 1977 fantasy film Wizards takes places millions of years after much of Earth has been obliterated in a war sparked by nuclear terrorism. Only a handful of humans remain, while many have been changed into mutants roaming the radioactive wastelands. In the meantime, mankind's true ancestors: fairies, elves and dwarfs, have returned to live in peace.
The final episode of "Challenge of the Superfriends" was titled "History of Doom."
Three alien observers visit Earth to find it totally destroyed. The aliens arrive at the Hall of Justice to find a videotape of Superman in his last moments recording a message of the Legion of Doom's plan backfiring and the Earth getting destroyed by a massive solar flare caused by the Legion before the tape abruptly ends.
The aliens review the Hall of Justice and Legion of Doom memory banks to discover the origins of members of both groups and the Legion's plan that led to the Earth's destruction.
The aliens reverse time to restore the Earth and its inhabitants back to life and then cause an eclipse to block the solar flare from reaching Earth. The aliens leave Earth quietly as Lex Luthor is befuddled why his plan didn't work.
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"Don't chew gum on camera. Don't whistle. You may kiss Bob Barker but please don't kill him." -announcer Johnny Olson briefing the audience of potential contestants for "The Price is Right"
(This post was edited by artytoons on Dec 23, 2012, 2:56 PM)
Titan A.E. Titan A.E. begins at the end of the world. A hostile alien race called the Derj destroys the Earth to keep the human race from becoming a threat. The few remaining fugitve humans scatter to remote areas of the galaxy and struggle to survive in intersteller ghettos overlooked by other more established races.
Justice League Unlimited episode:-The Once and Future Thing The Justice League must chase a mad time traveler through time. The time traveler's thefts of things from the past corrupts the time-stream and the world/universe begins to unravel episode:-Hereafter A group of supervillians finally rid themsevless of Superman. Vandal Savage takes advantage of Superman's abscence and destroys the rest of the JL and activates his ultimate plan of world domination. His plan goes wrong and destroys the world leaving himself, the immortal Vandal Savage the lone human on Earth
Futurama episode:The Late Philip J. Fry Fry Prof. Farnsworth and Bender find themselves on a one way trip into the distant future on a time machine with no reverse gizmo. The group travel forward to the end of all things and witness the second Big Bang.
Reboot episode: System Crash / End Program Taking it into cyberspace,.. Mainframe experienced a digital apocolypse. After Megabyte the virus corrupted Mainframe, everything was left in ruins. Their cyber-world was collapsing and crumbling around them into dark chaos After a life-time of fighting entropy,Bob the guardian accepted that his world was beyond repair and the end was inevitable His only option was to calmy face extiction alongside his loved ones and put his faith in the unseen "User"
(This post was edited by Straydawg on Dec 26, 2012, 9:59 PM)
Strangely enough, I wasn't too upset either. 
