One of the best films playing at the now–under way Tribeca Film Festival this year is Nina Paley’s charming and provocative animated Indian myth–modern relationship drama–thirties musical Sita Sings the Blues. (Read our brief review here.) So, we thought this would be a good time to introduce folks to one of Paley’s earlier films. A decidedly in-your-face and very funny look at the perils of population explosion, 2002’s The Stork is, initially, a pleasant kids’ cartoon, only to turn into something closer to Apocalypse Now. It played Sundance and numerous other festivals, winning awards along the way. Why did Paley, when she first began work on this film, predict that it would provoke lots of anger, “be extremely unpopular, and possibly end my animation career”? Well, watch the film and you’ll see. —Bilge Ebiri