The Big Snit 

"Stop sawing the table!" [clearly doing it] "What?! I'm not!" Still cracks me up after all these years.

While everyone else had their attention captured by the end of the world, these two were only enraptured by each other. Their reconciliation is genuine and simple. They are rewarded with heaven, but they go back inside to finish their game. They don't even notice that they're in paradise because - for all their problems - they're already there with each other.

Best cat voice in cinema history.

The ending of this short is extremely dark yet touching.

That scene at 7:10 when he's just looking at the picture of a happier time, while his wife is sobbing in the background has got to be one of the most heart wrenching things I've ever seen in an animation.

me and my service manager used to say "stop shaking your eyes!" Stop sawing the table!" still makes me laugh

The older I get, the more I cry when I watch this. I don't understand why, but by the time this ends, my stomach is lurching with sobs. It seems to point out the silly but unavoidable ways we misuse our most precious moments, and pinpoints our secret hope that everything lasts for eternity.

Massive thank you to Doodley for bringing the NFB to my attention!

Brilliant when they reveal all he has are E's

This could air on Adult Swim and I wouldn't bat an eye. The humor really was ahead of its time.

They still got a chance to apologize before being vaporize.

LOL THE CAT SCREAM 1:30 3:40 7:02

It was made in the 1980s. The part where he opens the door still weirds me out in an excellent way.

Fun Fact: The Scrabble scene from The Simpsons episode Bart is a Genius was inspired by this short.

“Why don’t you just.....join some stupid shh..shhh... shake n’ rock n’ roll band!” 🤣

I was 10 when this was originally aired, but it stuck in my head long enough that 37 years later I searched 'scrabble game animated' specifically to find it. So glad that part of my childhood has been restored.

If this is an ad for saws, it's working.

I had the pleasure of working with Richard Condie when I was hired to help paint cels for The Apprentice. Still, The Big Snit is his masterpiece, arguably the funniest animated short ever made next to Lupo the Butcher. And let's face it, Matt Groening and James Brooks had to have been influenced by this film when they came up with the concept of The Simpsons. Funniest scene: "Please make sure all cigarettes are extinguished...."

"I..I don't shake my eyes, not as much as I used to"

I replayed the cat sound too many times.

One of the best short animated films ever made.

I saw this as a child. It was really scary back in thise days. Such surrealism, wow.

The ending actually broke my heart😭❤️

That cat will forever be the best thing to me. I remember seeing this in the early 90s on cable and the cat's voice would give me stomach pains from laughing so much.

One of my favorite cartoons ever. It’s surreal, but it captures the mundane bickering that comes with a long relationship, and the petty annoyances that build up. But they still love each other.

A married couple gets into an argument while playing Scrabble. Their cat has just chewed through the power cable for their television, so they don't notice that a nuclear war has begun. The husband complains about his wife's habit of shaking her eyes, while she points out he has the bad habit of sawing the furniture from watching the TV show "Sawing for Teens" (the show is interrupted so that the warning can be given). They barely notice that there is panic in the streets. In the end, they reconcile after the husband plays a love song on a concertina. Afterwards, just as they start to open the door, they are vaporized by a nuclear bomb and instantly arrive in Heaven. Still unaware of what has happened, they comment on what a beautiful day it is and return to finish their Scrabble game.

The outro gives me goosebumps everytime.

This is wonderful, the way the husband makes his wife laugh by being silly is great, I've always loved this film, it's so touching and sweet, while being surreal and full of strange little details, like the massive tyre in one of the rooms - I spot something new every time I watch it. Perfection.

Can anyone tell me where I can get Season 1 of "Sawing for Teens"?

I'm so happy to see these shorts again. haven't seen them since i was a kid. Nice to have then in HD too!

I remember enjoying this as a kid for the gags, but now that I'm an adult... this little cartoon has far more layers than I recall.

Always shakin' her eyes, lol. I remember seeing this on Cartoon Network's O Canada, and cracking up so hard. Good times.

This exudes roughly the same energy as Shaun of the Dead - two people caught up in the troubles of their own daily lives to notice the world outside literally ending, and a wealth of background details that you have to watch several times to catch.

The ending gave me a smile =)

This is the greatest animated short I think I've ever seen. I first saw it when I was around 7 or 8 years old when my dad showed it to me on the early internet.. Over the years since, I've re-watched it many times, each time taking away new meaning. Now at 22, I break into tears whenever I watch it. It means a lot to me and reflects life in a way that is so imperfect yet so beautiful.

"I'm NOT!"

Love the already DEAD reporter. 🤣 “Good afternoon!” 💀

This is one of those stories where it had an ending like the Ugly Barnacle "Everyone died, the end." This is one of the best

It's amazing that someone was able to come up with something so ridiculous yet so relatable. Sometimes when I think of this short I take my glasses off and shake them like that woman would shake her eyes.

Did anyone else notice all the other saws in the background ? One was literally sticking outside the house. & the pictures in the background is a man facing the wall?

I always loved this cartoon! It's so oddly funny, touching and heartwarming all at once! Suddenly the threat of the end of the world isn't as important as the threat of them losing each other's love. And in the end isn't love the only thing that really matters anyway? Very thought-provoking!

I literally cry every time I watch this...

Taking a subject that at the time was very real and making it understandable and yet funny. When he puts his hand on the door knob and is vaporized and opens door heaven was quit brilliant.

5:34 My favourite moment - missiles are flying and Santa Claus with his reindeer appear

3:15 - Bill Guest!!!! Iconic voice in Canadian broadcasting. Died the year this film was released.

I have been trying to remember the name of this short for years ever since I saw it on O Canada back in 2001. The only things I remembered were the woman shaking her eyes, her yelling at the guy for sawing the table and the ending when they're in Heaven.

At the end you see they're in heaven with dinosaur statues and dodo birds.. they're all extinct, symbolizing that mankind is extinct now because of the nuclear war. This short shows how a small 'snit' can turn into something much worse (symbolized by the war) but in the end is all resolved (when they made up and are happy in heaven)

Haha when he switched the letter E I was laughing out loud

I remember seeing this at a Spike and Mike animation festival (remember those?), I think in 1988. I laughed so, so hard. The cat! Sawing for Teens! Her vacuuming the tub! And above that, it's about the couple and what they have. It's all about the relationship. Still one of my all-time animated shorts.

I saw this around 1980 when film festival was on PBS. I loved it back then. I love it now.

I LOVE this story! I’ve seen this cartoon dozens of times and it still makes me laugh and brings a tear to my eye! It’s funny and yet so tender! The concern becomes less about the end of the world and more about the end of the couple’s relationship. I love how they were able to reconcile and rekindle their love for each other before it was too late! Also, her eyeball shaking and his sawing compulsion are a hoot!

lmao the cat yell 1:32

HAHAHA! I've loved the heck outta this since the day it was first broadcast. 'Sawing For Teens' is like something one would expect to see on a Ren & Stimpy show...but this was waaaaaaay before then. Absolute magic!

Does anyone else notice the large tire in the house? Some of the backgrounds in the cartoon are hilarious.

The cat totally stole the show :)

Such a hilarious yet tragic and beautiful short. The goofball married family reconciles after a fight and realized before their deaths their profound love for each other. And in their cluelessness they do not realize they just died in a nuclear war and that they are not just having a beautiful day but are in heaven.

So well made. Never gets old.

Heart warming, funny and bizarre. Silly animation with a great message behind it. I love it!

Man. Was i young when my teacher showed us this. I knew what the ending meant but no one else did. Man was i horrified.

This is the meaning of living happily ever after.

I usually came back to this vid, I think it's beautiful in many ways, as well as funny. I haven't watched a more wholesome animation yet.

Wow this is just wow! The ending i cant describe how beautiful it is, its just amazing

That cat.... 1:32 3:41 7:02

I remember seeing this in the 80's before even speaking english, it was in french in Canada, Quebec. I was probably 8 or 9 years old. I remember this, because I searched for this video since then. Thank you so much NFB.

this cartoon gave me weird childhood existential feelings when I was a kid. I watched it so many times.

One of the funniest 10 minutes you'll ever watch over and over...it looks cheaply done,but the details and the ridiculous props keep you coming back.

one has to notice the backgrounds in this sketch.

These were the most oddly unsettling shorts I'd ever seen as a child and yet I still loved them.

Beautiful short film. Thank you for posting it.

“So what’s it like living in Canada?” This

I was looking for this for a long, long time... I was a teenager with 12-13 years when I watched this animation at school for the first and only time. Now I am 36 years old...

Anyone else relate to their relarionship and cried when he looked at their old photos of the fun days and decided to make her feel better? The end really jerked the tears out of me.

Really enjoyed this look into a couples life, the scrabble game, their petty squabbles and their love for each other when there's a global nuclear strike. Loved the wtf look on the cats face (3:47), the rockets, Noah's ark and the traffic congestion.

Wow this took me back haha, I used to randomly happen across these on CBC when I was just a kid, and always thought "what the heck did I just watch?" I see not much has changed lol.

Out of all of them this short stuck out to me the most. It was my favorite.

I loved this as a kid growing up in Canada, but at 35 years old this is still one of my favourite things ever made (in any medium). The sense of humour, the music, the art style, the absurdity, the emotion... A truly underappreciated masterpiece. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this film, it's literally been as influential and important to me as the music of Bob Dylan, or the films of Scorsese, etc.

I remember this short playing on the Oh Canada! Segment of cartoon network back in like 1998. I was 5 then and the animation and art style freaked me out. Today I found out after 22 years, it still totally does

So what you're saying is that EEEEEEE isn't a valid word to play in Scrabble? Bullshit! I kid. This was a good one. The NFB makes a hell of an argument for the public funding of the arts.

I love that he watches Sawing for Teens specifically, it's his little youthful irresponsibility that he indulges in to cope with the marriage.

I think I saw this late at night as a kid. It's a really great cartoon and short story, but kind of disturbing. It's really cool to see it as an adult though. That ending is really powerful seeing it now. It's still scary though.

I love this animation. I used to show it to my students regularly.

I watched it so many times in the 80s. I forgot about the obsession with sawing!!! Now that I'm 60, I know enough not to play scrabble with my wife. And I limit my sawing to the garage. I never noticed the tire before.

Oh wow that ending was beautiful. Wasn’t expecting to cry watching this

One of my all time favourite animations.

I had a panic attack last time I saw this and I'm feeling it again now! I almost don't wanna finish watching it.. ..I finished watching and feel much better now! I don't think this'll bother me anymore. It's actually kind of a sweet toon!

I just love the music used for this film love it

The joy on his face when his favourite show is on.

I bet Rocko's Modern Life was heavily influenced by this.

I loved it when it first came out, and still do today. Wonderful!

This is a wonderful depiction of couples and their quirks. Retired folks will interpret this in many special ways. My hubby and I see a most wonderful slice of our lives in this piece. LOVE this from the first time I saw it back in the '90s . OH Canada you are funny. Thanks for posting this national film board! and I agree with FULLFRONTALTUBEITY down there. sheesh what a grouch.

I was in my 20s when I saw this at a film festival, the messages are so deep in this film I still send people here to see it.

The concertina (squeeze box) cadenza is pure genius. Accolades to the performance virtuoso.

the cat voice actor deserves an oscar

That is me and my wife exactly. (Happy after 20 years together in our mutual absurdity)

I remembered this from when I was a kid, but the only search terms I could think of were 'stop shaking your eyes cartoon'. It worked, and I'm here. Cheers Google, and thanks NFB for commissioning such an incredibly weird and lovely short.

I have been trying to find this short for years thank you!

The first time I saw this delightful 'toon back in the '80s I damn near fell out my chair I was laughing so hard. This one and the Cat Came Back are my NFB favorites.

I saw this in the 90s as a teenager when I was very baked. Thought it was one of the most profound things I’d ever seen. lol Just found it after all these years and it made me feel so nostalgic.

It's like When the wind blows just without the heartbreaking finale, it's like the punk brother, i love it!

Man the ending is kind of dark....