PARÍCUTIN

In February of 1943, a fissure appeared in the cornfield of Dionisio Pulido, a farmer in the Mexican state of Michoacán. Ash and incandescent rocks emerging from this fissure preceded lava flows, violent explosions, and the birth of Mexico's youngest volcano. Despite the prayers of the locals, the lava flows displaced the populations of two nearby villages and part of that of another. The final explosion of the Parícutin volcano was in January of 1952, nine years after its birth. By March of that year, it merely fumed, standing 424.6 metres tall-the first volcano ever to have been observed through its complete life cycle. Parícutin combines various types of animation with footage shot at the current site of the volcano to recreate the volcano's full lifecycle.