''War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko'' is a 2023

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

animated short film directed by

Dave Mullins David or Dave Mullins may refer to: * David Wiley Mullins (1906–1987), American academic * David W. Mullins Jr. (1946–2018), American economist, former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman * David Mullins (jockey) (born 1996), National Hunt jockey * ...

. The 11-minute short was inspired by and features

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 ...

and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

's anti-war anthem "

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh single release by John Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reach ...

". The film was written by

, with story by Dave Mullins and

Sean Ono Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The G ...

. The film was produced by Brad Booker and production was handled by Booker and Mullins' Los Angeles-based animation studio ElectroLeague, in partnership with Lenono Music,

and

Thomas Newman Thomas Montgomery Newman (born October 20, 1955) is an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career that has spanned over four decades, he has scored numerous films including '' The Player'' (1992); '' The S ...

composed the score for the film.

Plot

Set in an alternate WWI reality, a heroic pigeon delivers messages across the battlefield, from one side to the other. The messages are exchanged by two soldiers on opposite sides, who, unaware of who their opponent is, are playing a game of chess against each other. As the fighting and the game both escalate, they continue to exchange their chess moves, delivered by the brave pigeon. Whoever wins the game, what's certain is that there are no winners in war."War is Over": Animated Short Short Creates Timely Message of Humanity - IndieWire
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Production

''War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko'' is an animated short film produced by ElectroLeague studio. The animation and visual effects were created by

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

's New Zealand-based VFX company

Wētā FX Wētā FX, formerly known as Weta Digital, is a New Zealand digital visual effects company based in Miramar, Wellington. It was founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993 to produce the digital special effects for ...

. Epic Games’

Unreal Engine Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genr ...

was used in production to create the imagery. The film was edited by John K. Carr and scored by Oscar-nominated composer

Accolades

The film won the

Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer Th ...

at the

51st Annie Awards The 51st Annual Annie Awards honoring excellence in the field of animation of 2023 was held on February 17, 2024, at the University of California, Los Angeles's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California, in 37 categories. The nominees were announc ...

on February 17, 2024, and later won the

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 ...

at the

96th Academy Awards The 96th Academy Awards is an upcoming ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which will honor the best 2023 in film, films of 2023, and is expected to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Ange ...

on March 10, 2024.

References

External links

Official Trailer
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

* {{Beatles filmography and videography 2023 films 2023 animated short films 2023 computer-animated films 2023 drama films 2023 independent films American animated short films American independent films American World War I films Animated films about birds Animated films based on songs Animated films without speech Animated World War I films Anti-war films about World War I Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Best Animated Short Subject Annie Award winners Films about armies Films about chess Films scored by Thomas Newman Independent animated films John Lennon World War I films based on actual events Yoko Ono