Tag Archives: War Is Over!

‘War Is Over!’ Animated Film Coming to YouTube

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The Academy Award winning film War Is Over! is getting a wider release.

We’ll finally be able to see it in full on YouTube from 1 December.

And here’s the trailer:

The countdown to launch day is on at the official John Lennon YouTube page. To see the film in full (from December 1) click on this link below:

While you wait, to whet your appetite here are some stills from the film:

It looks like it’s an incredible animation with a great message and we’re very much looking forward to seeing it after waiting almost two years.

The Lennon Estate is using the film’s premiere, and the release of the ‘War Is Over (If You Want It’ Zoetrope 12″ single, to raise awareness and much-needed funds to help children around the world affected by war.

Right now is one of the deadliest times to be a child this century.

When war breaks out, children don’t just lose their toys, homes and schools. In conflict zones like Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, kids are going through such trauma they can often no longer eat, speak or sleep. 

So, if you can, as we approach this holiday season please think about the millions of children facing the horror of war and donate to the charity Warchild using this link:

https://www.warchild.org.uk/donate-war-is-over-film

Your donation, no matter how small, will help.

If you’d like some more background as to how the War Is Over! film came to be, and some insight into the creative process, check out our post from February last year!

New Lennon/Plastic Ono Band Zoetrope, and More Dark Horse

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There’s been a further development in the green vinyl ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ 7″ single release announced a few weeks back…..

It all seems timed to coincide with the release of a new children’s book, which in turn is adapted from the Academy Award winning animated short film of the same name that Sean Ono Lennon was involved in…….

Anyways, on the official John Lennon store site they’ve just announced a very special 12″ Zoetrope disc featuring the songs ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Ultimate Mix)’ and ‘Listen, The Snow Is Falling (Ultimate Mix)’ on side one, and on side two ‘War Pigeon/A Game Of Chess/A Sudden Interruption/Then Peace’, from the soundtrack to the War Is Over! animated film, composed by Thomas Newman (who has done everything from The Shawshank Redemption to Finding Nemo, two Bond films Skyfall and Spectre, to 1917 and Elemental). Suffice it to say he is up there with the best! This is the first time soundtrack music from War Is Over! has been available on a physical format.

The 12” Zoetrope picture disc is designed by Drew Tetz using still frames from the film, and features (on the front outer title sticker) an illustration by Max Narciso from the children’s book adaptation.

The disc is 180g and cut at 45rpm, and comes in a PVC clear sleeve with a title sticker featuring the credits.

It looks very cool and is set to become a definite collectors item.

Meanwhile, the team at Dark Horse Records has announced yet another pre-Christmas release. This is in addition to the three titles announced for Black Friday Record Store Day.

It’s another Yusuf/Cat Stevens back-catalogue title Tell ‘Em I’m Gone, and it will be on yellow vinyl:

The album was produced by Rick Rubin and sees Yusuf exploring some of his bluesier influences, tapping into musical traditions that have informed his own work. Fans of Cat Stevens will know that Leadbelly has always been one of his favourite artists and alongside the album’s original compositions Tell ‘Em I’m Gone contains covers of songs dear to him such as Edgar Winter’s ‘Dying To Live’, Luther Dixon/Al Smith’s ‘Big Boss Man’, and a bluesy reworking of the Jimmie Davies/Charles Mitchell song ‘You Are My Sunshine’. Interesting stuff. The album is available for pre-sale now and is released on December 5.


Congratulations on a Grammy Win, and Good Luck for the Oscars

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The Beatles have won a Grammy in the 66th annual awards.

It was for Best Music Video for the song ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ – the film clip made to promote last year’s re-issue of the Revolver album.

The award went to Em Cooper, video director, and Jonathan Clyde, Sophie Hilton, Sue Loughlin and Laura Thomas, video producers.

Artist and director Em Cooper explored the space between dreaming and wakefulness, working on an animation rostrum on sheets of celluloid. She painted every frame individually in oil-paint, a labourious process which took many months.

(Interestingly Revolver won an award for Best Album Cover in 1966. That honour went to Klaus Voormann. And the Song of the Year Grammy in 1966 went to John Lennon and Paul McCartney for ‘Michelle’. McCartney also won the Best Contemporary Solo Vocal Performance, Male or Female, for ‘Eleanor Rigby’.)

Also in the hunt for awards recognition is another short animated film with Beatle connections – this time for Sean Ono Lennon and War Is Over!, a film inspired by the music of John and Yoko.

War Is Over! is nominated in the 96th Oscars, to be announced on Sunday, March 10. You can view the trailer here:

Set in an alternate WWI reality where a senseless war rages on, two soldiers on opposite sides of the conflict play a joyful game of chess. A heroic carrier pigeon delivers the soldiers’ chess moves over the battlefield as the fighting escalates. Neither soldier knows his opponent as the game and the war builds to its climatic final move. Whoever wins the game, one thing is for certain: there are no winners in war.

The eleven-minute short animated film is made by the animation company ElectroLeague. Its anti-war story is by Sean Ono Lennon and Dave Mullins, and it features original music composed by Thomas Newman plus the song ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’. The film is directed by Dave Mullins and produced by Brad Booker. It is executive produced by Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon, and is created as a production of Lenono Music, ElectroLeague, WetaFX and Epic Games.

Here’s some more background on how the project came about, and what to expect when you get to see it:

And check out this filmmakers’ panel discussion about the Oscar-nominated War Is Over! It features writer/director Dave Mullins, producer Brad Booker, executive producer Sean Ono Lennon, and composer Thomas Newman. They’re in conversation with executive producer Karen Dufilho: