In this year’s Academy Awards a wonderful 11-minute film won the award for Best Animat-ed Short. It was inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1971 peace anthem “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”. The short film “WAR IS OVER!” was created by son Sean Ono Lennon and director Dave Mullins. It is set in an alternate WWI reality where two soldiers on opposite sides of the conflict play a game of chess. The game used in the film was suggested by chess historian Edward Winter, and has a highly unusual ending.
“War Is Over!” is an animated 11-minute film, inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s peace anthem “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”, which was released in 1971 as a single. The film was written by Dave Mullins, with the story by Mullins and Sean Ono Lennon, and the score composed by Thomas Newman. The animation and visual effects were created by Peter Jackson’s New Zealand-based VFX company Wētā FX.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10. It depicts an alternate WWI reality, in which a pigeon delivers messages across the battlefield, from one side to the other. Messages are exchanged by two soldiers on opposite sides, who play a game of chess against each other (without knowing who their opponent is).
You can watch video excerpts from the film and learn all about the process of its production on the official War is Over promotion page here. We learnt something interesting about the chess aspect of the film. (https://en.chessbase.com )
