One Of The Scariest Depictions Of World War 3 Came From An Animated Movie

Hollywood has hosted a variety of horrifying insights into the end of the world. Some of the darkest movie universes of all-time have, besides being thoroughly entertaining, left us fearful of what lies just around the corner for the human race, and whether we have it in us to withstand the horrors it could bring. Deadly viruses, desert warlords, and ravenous zombies have all posed threats to the world that only a few have lived to see, but one of the scariest depictions of the end of the world has come in animated form in the idyllic British countryside.

Released in 1981 and directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, "When the Wind Blows" is a simple yet shockingly impactful animated story about WWIII and the efforts of a wonderfully charming couple to withstand its fallout. Adapted from Raymond Briggs's story, the film stars John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft as Jim and Hilda Bloggs, a loving couple living out their twilight years in a lovely British cottage in Sussex.

Their heartwarming existence is shattered, however, when the United Kingdom succumbs to a nuclear attack. From here, the couple does their very best to endure the aftermath, only to live out their final days in gut-wrenching, soul-crushing fashion. It's a story that could be delivered in any format and to any audience, but it's the specific animation style they're already familiar with that lulls them into a false sense of security before the bombs begin to fall.

Beyond the subject matter tackled with unflinching honesty in "When the Wind Blows," it's the story's visual delivery that makes it so much more haunting and ultimately works in its favor. Four years before Murakami tackled the war-driven tale, he gave the world a festive treat in the form of "The Snowman," a charming story about a boy befriending a snowman that became a staple of British television.

The short followed a young boy as he took flight with a snowman he'd built, who had magically come to life. Place the two side-by-side, and it's easy to see that the character style and landscapes didn't look too dissimilar to the Bloggs world before it was ruined by nuclear fallout. It's this charm that draws the viewer in, teasing a sense of hope that the characters are driven by. The horror, unfortunately, is that it's in this war-torn world that hope clearly doesn't belong.

Poor Jim and Hilda do their best to carry on, even as they unknowingly expose themselves to nuclear fallout. This is worsened by the sight of smog blanketing the sky or dead animals littering the landscape, showing just what kind of state their world is in, even as they pretend to ignore it. In doing so, "When the Wind Blows" holds its own against the likes of "The Last of Us" or HBO mini series, "Chernobyl," and is definitely worth a watch. You may want to queue up a Pixar film to lighten the mood once you're done, though.