What is the film about?

Two children refuse to share a book, setting in motion a pattern of behaviour that destroys the entire universe.

What influenced it?

I loved childrens’ books with slightly scary endings when I was growing up. David McKee’s Tusk Tusk, Wolf Harranth’s Isn’t it a Beautiful Meadow? and Pierre by Maurice Sendak. I particularly love it when it’s the kids who are watching the adults mess everything up!

A little background information...

After my last short film, In The Air Is Christopher Gray, I was approached by a publisher who wanted to know if I had any childrens’ book ideas. I ended up making two with them, Terry Perkins And His Upside Down Frown (about a boy whose words came out upside down and so he was put on his head so people could understand him) and George Pearce And His Huge Massive Ears (about a boy who could hear everything people said… but he also couldn’t help but listen to everyone’s opinions too).

Around that time, Brexit happened and I noticed that a lot of the news was trying to divide people into one thing of the other and I wanted to write something to show what happens if you divide people on an ever more granular scale. So this book was the idea that I came up with! Unfortunately the publisher didn’t want to publish it because they thought it was too scary at the end. “Could it have a happy ending?”. I didn’t really want to make a book with a happy ending here because the point was not to be selfish/divisive/uncaring in the first place. You can’t selfishly destroy the universe and then change your mind!

The rough mock-up on the book sat on my desk for several years and then luckily a global pandemic happened.

Over lockdown I wanted to spend my time doing some creative and I thought I’d turn this ready-to-go idea into a quick film instead. It took a little longer than expected but here it is.

How was the film made?

I made it in Flash and After Effects, but also used Procreate on iPad for the background transitions which was a really really nice way to work.

I couldn’t get any funding so I made it all myself except for the sound (wonderfully done by Tom Haines of Brain Audio here in London) and the voiceover which I was amazed that Matt Lucas agreed to do! Several months of drawing flapping heads later it was done!

I hope you like it and if you want to terrorise any children with it then please do share!