Finalist in Best Children's Education Program
Animator: Baker & Hill
Developed by National Geographic & Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
Survival of the Sexiest, Part I & II are part of an exhibition, Birds of Paradise: Amazing Avian Evolution. The fantastic plumes and bizarre courtship displays of the birds-of-paradise are a result of millions of years of sexual selection. In tackling sexual selection as a main exhibition message, a narrative-driven approach with humor was chosen for the animation. It’s a conversation between a child asking how the birds “got to be so fancy” and an adult narrator answering. As the child continues his inquiry, common myths about evolution are dispelled with facts clearly spelled out by the narrator.