Sean Ono Lennon’s Oscar-Winning Animated Short ‘War Is Over!’ To Arrive On YouTube
‘War Is Over! Inspired By The Music of John And Yoko’ won Best Animated Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards in 2024.
Last year, Sean Ono Lennon and Pixar alum Dave Mullins accepted the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for their project “WAR IS OVER! Inspired By The Music of John & Yoko.” On December 1st, just ahead of the 2025 holiday season, the short film will be available to stream for the first time exclusively on the Official John Lennon YouTube Channel. The release will be accompanied by a fundraiser for Warchild.
Sean shared, “In 2023, I worked with Dave Mullins and Brad Booker on an animated short film called ‘WAR IS OVER!’ about a wartime carrier pigeon delivering messages across the battlefield between two chess-playing soldiers – which I’m delighted to say, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short… This year we are premiering the film on YouTube and simultaneously raising donations for the charity Warchild throughout the holiday season.” He added a reminder of John and Yoko’s timeless message, ‘War is over if you want it.’
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The film was co-written by Sean Ono Lennon and writer, director, and animator Dave Mullins (Up, Soul, Incredibles 2, Cars 2) directed by Mullins and produced by Brad Booker (“Iron Giant,” “The Book of Life,” “Rumble.”) It was executive produced by Sean Ono Lennon and Yoko Ono Lennon, with a score composed by 15-time Oscar-nominee, Thomas Newman.
This holiday season also sees the release of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” / “Listen, The Snow Is Falling” on 7” evergreen vinyl as a replica of the original 1971 release by John Lennon and Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. Ultimate mixes of the tracks have been produced by Sean Ono Lennon and mixed and engineered by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon. Also available is a zoetrope vinyl including these two tracks plus Thomas Newman’s soundtrack of the “War is Over!” film. The Limited Edition 12” zoetrope vinyl has been designed by Drew Tetz using excerpts from the film. These three tracks will also be available for download and streaming.
The short film has additionally been adapted into a picture book with illustrations by character designer Max Narciso. The book is available now via Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers.
