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8 months ago
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War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film tonight, marking the first Oscar win for filmmakers Dave Mullins and Brad Booker.
Set to the anti-war Christmas classic song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”, the animated short follows two soldiers at the frontline of World War I as they play a chess game through carrier pigeon, unaware they are on opposing sides of the battle.
The filmmaking pair was joined on stage by executive producer Sean Ono Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who led the crowd in wishing his absent mom a Happy (UK) Mother’s Day.
“John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote a song that inspired us,” said writer-director Dave Mullins as he accepted the award. “Its an antiwar message that we tried to honor with this film, we want to thank our Executive producer and creative partner Sean Ono Lennon, who was incredible to work with, our team at ElectroLeague… and I want to thank Thomas Newman for his incredible score.”
Booker gave thanks to Peter Jackson, saying “this film would not have happened without you,” before thanking the animation team at Weta FX, Lightsfrom entertainment and Epic Games.
As the music began to play the trio off, Lennon jumped to the mic for a shout out to Yoko Ono. “I just want to quickly say, my mother turned 91 this February, and today is Mother’s Day in the UK, so could everyone please say Happy Mother’s Day Yoko,” he said as the crowd repeated the refrain.
According to a recent New York Times article, Yoko Ono, who has dropped out of the public spotlight, left New York City last year, moving out of the Dakota apartment she famously purchased with John Lennon (she still owns the space). Ono reportedly has retired to the sprawling upstate Catskills farm she purchased with the late Beatle. Her spokesperson Elliot Mintz told The Times Ono no longer gives interviews.
