I absolutely love this animation and have loved it for years. The music is fantastically hopeless-sounding and therefore fantastically perfect.
A million stars.
Times a billion.
Forever.
I don't think it was just CONSUMERISM BAD. The point was he lost what was special about himself when he tried to find happiness in doing to others what was done to him...it's symbolic for losing your humanity, and I think it's quite remarkable for an animated short film to say that much.