''I Met the Walrus'' is an

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

directed by Josh Raskin (known for his musical project Kids & Explosions) and produced by

Jerry Levitan Jerry Levitan (born 1954) is a Canadian best known as "the kid who interviewed John Lennon". He produced and starred in the animated short ''I Met the Walrus'' about his meeting with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1969. Th ...

. It stars Levitan and

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

. The film's pen illustration is by James Braithwaite and computer illustration is by Alex Kurina.

Summary

The film is based on an interview of John Lennon by Jerry Levitan in 1969. Levitan, then 14 years old, tracked Lennon to his hotel room at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

's King Edward Hotel after hearing a rumour that Lennon had been sighted at the Toronto Airport. Jerry made his way into John Lennon's suite and persuaded John to agree to an interview. The animation is based on Levitan's 30-minute recording of the interview, which was edited down to 5 minutes.

Production

The film was created in 2006-2007, produced by Jerry Levitan and supported by a grant from Bravo!FACT. It premiered March 22, 2007 at This is London, a Toronto nightclub. Since then, ''I Met the Walrus'' has appeared at film festivals around the world. It has won many awards including a 2009

Daytime Emmy The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

in the New Approaches, Daytime Entertainment category,

Best Animated Short The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

awards for the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

and the

Middle East International Film Festival The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF; ar, مهرجان أبو ظبي السينمائي), formerly the Middle East International Film Festival, was an international film festival held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2007 to 2 ...

. The film was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

.OSCAR.com - 80th Annual Academy Awards - Nomination
/ref> It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows. It was selected to be one of 25 YouTube videos to be part of the first Guggenheim Museum/YouTube Play "A Biennial of Creative Video". ''I Met The Walrus'' has since been adapted as a book, authored by Jerry Levitan and published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

Excerpt from the film

References

External links

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Bravo!FACT-funded Short Nominated for an Oscar
from Bravo!Canada
Oscar Nominees Josh Rankin and John Levitian
get dressed for the Oscars with a little help from FT. {{DEFAULTSORT:I Met The Walrus 2007 animated films 2007 films 2007 short films Canadian animated short films Cultural depictions of John Lennon Documentary films about the Beatles Films about John Lennon Canadian animated documentary films 2000s animated short films Articles containing video clips Canadian short documentary films 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films