The independent animated short film War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko has been made available to the public for the first time. Written and directed by Dave Mullins, the 11-minute film was released in 2023 and draws inspiration from John Lennon and Yoko Ono's anti-war song Happy Xmas (War Is Over).
Based on a story by Mullins and Sean Ono Lennon, the short has earned significant recognition, winning the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject in February 2024 and the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film the following month.
Set in an alternate First World War reality, the film follows a messenger pigeon tasked with carrying communications across the battlefield. Two soldiers on opposing sides, unaware of each other's identities, conduct a correspondence chess game by exchanging moves through the bird.
A notable feature of the short is the central role of chess. Despite the surrounding violence, the two soldiers maintain a connection through a quiet, ongoing game, using the pigeon as a courier for each move. This motif reinforces the film’s exploration of shared humanity amid division and conflict.
Its public release serves as a fundraiser for War Child, a charity supporting children affected by armed conflict. The initiative comes at a time described as one of the deadliest periods for children in the current century. War Child highlights that young people in conflict zones such as Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine face extreme trauma, often losing their homes, education and sense of safety. The organisation stresses that its local teams provide critical supplies and mental-health support, but that continued assistance is required to address the scale of need.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Sean Ono Lennon explained how director Dave Mullins first became involved in the project. Seeking a video for Happy Xmas (War Is Over) that went beyond a conventional music clip, Lennon was directed to Mullins, a former Pixar animator who had founded his own studio, ElectroLeague. Impressed by Mullins's earlier work -including the Oscar-nominated short Lou - Lennon arranged a meeting, during which the outline of the film's story emerged almost immediately, reflecting the strong creative understanding between the two.
Lennon also described the origins of the story itself. Early discussions revolved around the idea of a chess game, which soon evolved into the concept of two opposing soldiers secretly playing across enemy lines. The choice to centre the exchange on a messenger pigeon followed naturally, drawing on historical wartime practice and Lennon's own interest in birds.
The public release at the start of December is no coincidence, as explained by Lennon:
We wanted to do it in time for Christmas because that's the whole point of the song-end of the film. It's ultimately a Christmas song.
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