War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko won the Oscar for Best Animated Short and Sean Lennon took the opportunity to celebrate his mom, Yoko Ono. Filmmakers Dave Mullins and Brad Booker took the stage alongside Lennon, who capped off the acceptance speeches by calling out, “Happy Mother’s Day, Yoko!”
(For those confused by the shout out, today marks Mother’s Day in the U.K. while the U.S. traditionally celebrates in May).
“John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote a song, anti-war message we tried to honor with this film,” Mullins noted in his speech. He added of Sean Lennon, “We want to thank our executive producer and creative partner, who was amazing to work with.”
Backstage after the big win, Booker told Rolling Stone, “We never know what Sean’s gonna do. He’s very charming. He always comes up with the right thing to say. And that was the right thing to say. We love that family, and we got to meet Yoko.”
#WarIsOver Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko wins best animated short at the 2024 #Oscars pic.twitter.com/G7GpMsQI1O
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 10, 2024
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko is an 11-minute animated film set in an alternate World War I reality. It follows two soldiers from opposite sides of the conflict who play a game of chess. It was inspired by Lennon and Ono’s song “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).”
From Rolling Stone US
