John Lennon Christmas Classic Meets Pixar in New Short Film on Anniversary of His Death
247144 04: Two roses lay on the memorial to John Lennon December 2, 1995 in New York City. The memorial to Lennon in Central Park called, "Strawberry Fields" still continues to draw people who leave tributes to him.
On This Date in 1980
Today’s the day. Forty-three years ago today the earth stood still when the news broke that John Lennon had been assassinated. I was just a little kid, but I remember feeling so sad, and one of my first thoughts was that the Beatles could never play together again.
New “Happy Christmas” Film
Now, all these years later John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s classic holiday tune, “Happy Christmas (War Is Over),” has inspired a new animated short film. The project is being produced by John and Yoko’s son Sean Ono Lennon.
In a recent interview, Sean told The Hollywood Reporter that his goal with the movie is to remind folks the tune is not only a holiday song, but a song about peace. He says it “just felt like it deserved some kind of piece to help get it out there for another generation.” He mentioned that all the previous video ideas for the song “almost felt goofy.”
After discussing his feelings about the project with Pixar animator Dave Mullins, Mullins wrote and directed the film. He worked with Peter Jackson and his visual effects company, WetaFX, on the animation.
The 11-minute War Is Over! It’s inspired by the Music of John & Yoko and follows a game of chess. A heroic carrier pigeon is helping the game continue across enemy lines. It ends with the classic tune playing over the closing credits.
“For me, it’s very sad that my parents’ message of peace and love is still relevant to this day. It seems like such an old story,” Sean says, adding, “It’s something I was raised to believe and I still believe it.”
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko had a brief run in theaters in the fall to qualify for Oscar contention. As of now, there’s no word on when it will get a wide release, they’re currently looking for a distributor.
John Lennon: 9 Memorial Tributes from Around the World
John Lennon has inspired a number of memorial tributes since his untimely death on December 8, 1980.
The circumstances around Lennon’s death understandly was a shock to the world. The former Beatle was murdered outside of The Dakota, the luxury apartment building where he lived on New York City’s Upper West Side. In a time before the internet and social media, many Americans found out about his tragic death from Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football.
“Remember: This is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses,” began Cosell during the live broadcast. “An unspeakable tragedy confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the west side of New York City, the most famous perhaps of all of The Beatles, shot twice in the back. Rushed to Roosevelt Hospital. Dead on arrival.”
A piece from ESPN on the 30th anniversary of Lennon’s death detailed the behind-the-scenes goings-on of Cosell’s now-infamous announcement. At first, the legendary sportscaster almost didn’t deliver the earth-shattering news. The piece features off-the-air audio of Cosell and announcer Frank Gifford discussing whether or not to break the news during the game. While Cosell was on the fence about breaking the news, Gifford tells him, “You’ve got to. If we know it, we’ve got to do it…Don’t hang on it. It’s a tragic moment and this is going to shake up the whole world.”
Gifford, sadly, was correct. Lennon’s murder is still considered one of rock history’s biggest and most senseless tragedies. Fans to this day mark the loss of Lennon in some way. One of the ways includes visiting one of the many memorials that have been erected in his honor.
From Liverpool to New York City to Cuba, here are nine different memorial tributes to Lennon from around the world.
Joel Katz is the Morning Show Personality, Assistant Program Director, Podcast Host, Voiceover artist, audio producer, and Digital Content Writer for Magic 98.3. Joel has been working in New Jersey radio since college and started at Magic in 2002 as the Morning Show Host, “I can’t think of another place where I’d fit more perfectly; it’s just a great company with awesome people.” Joel is married to Kathleen, his elementary school sweetheart (they were each other’s first dates at age 9), shares a birthday with his oldest son, Ty, and has twins, Kiera and Liam. Joel runs at least 3.1 miles every day and enjoys playing basketball, doing laundry, saving his turn signal for when he really needs it, kissing dogs through a fence, using coasters, making that cool noise by rubbing his fingers on balloons, and chasing after ping pong balls on a windy cruise ship.
