Animation Ireland congratulate John Kelly on Oscar nomination for ‘Retirement Plan’
Skwigly
Dublin based independent animator John Kelly and his animated short Retirement Plan, voiced by Domhnall Gleeson, has outpaced 10 other long-listed productions to make it to the final five in the Best Animated Short category at the 98th Academy Awards®, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, March 15th.
Retirement Plan tells the story of Ray who, in the throes of his overstimulated, energy poor midlife, fantasises about everything he’d love to do in retirement, once he finally has the “time.” Retirement Plan is directed by John Kelly, with a script co-written by Tara Lawall and John Kelly. The film is narrated by Domhnall Gleeson. It is produced by Julie Murnaghan and Andrew Freedman for Antidote Films and funded by Frameworks, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and RTÉ’s flagship animation short film scheme. Retirement Plan won Best Animated Short Film – Ireland at the 2025 Irish Animation Awards.
Speaking of the Oscar nomination, Ronan McCabe CEO of Animation Ireland said
Congratulations to John Kelly and all the team behind the superb Retirement Plan. Irish animation has a long track record in garnering Oscar nominations, reflecting Ireland’s position as a global centre of excellence in animation. It’s wonderful to see our proud storytelling tradition represented yet again on the world stage and good luck to John, Tara, Antidote Films and all the team next month at the Academy Awards.
Retirement Plan will be in competition for the Oscar alongside Florence Miailhe’s Butterfly; Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears’ Forevergreen; Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s The Girl Who Cried Pearls and Konstantin Bronzit’s The Three Sisters.
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Animation Ireland extend hearty congratulations to member studio Cartoon Saloon on being long-listed in the same category as John Kelly for their wonderful animated short Éiru. On behalf of Animation Ireland’s member studios, the sector is also delighted to see the nomination successes of Irish friends, colleagues and peers working in live action – Jessie Buckley for Hamnet, two-time Oscar winner Richard Baneham for Avatar: Fire and Ash and Element Picture’s Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Bugonia.
The 98th Academy Awards® will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, March 15th and will be hosted by Conan O’Brien.