"Happy XMas (War is Over)"
A search for holiday songs led me to an Oscar-winning animated film inspired by the Lennon-Ono classic
We woke this morning to a cloak of pre-Christmas snow here in downeast Maine. I began checking the state of the world and my social and Substack feeds. I was happy to see that my dear old friend Mark Kemp posted a playlist of 30 holiday songs from around the world and the world’s innumerable musical genres.
That led me, among other destinations, to a marvelous rendition of Béla Flek’s “Hannukah Waltz” by, yes, the U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America, and “La Navidad De Los Pobres” (“Christmas of the Poor”) by Los Tigres Del Norte (7 million views here).
Not on Kemp’s list was “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” perhaps because this song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono has become part of the sonic wallpaper of this time of year. The song, released as a single in 1971 with the Plastic Ono Band and the Harlem Community Choir, is edgier than a quick listen might indicate.
So this is Christmas, and what have you done?…
And so this is Christmas (war is over)
For weak and for strong (If you want it)
The rich and the poor ones (war is over)
The road is so long…
A long road indeed.
I poked around on YouTube and found a wrenching 15-year-old post of the tune on the John Lennon channel with image after image of children traumatized, wounded or killed in wars around the world.
I cried at the juxtaposition thinking of today’s frightful carnage zones. Then I found the video I want to share for the holidays, and hope you will share it, as well.
It is “War is Over,“ an 11-minute animated film about two soldiers on opposite sides of a World-War-I-style trench-laced battlefield and a pigeon carrying scribbled chess moves back and forth between “enemy” soliders playing out a match as the great game of power exacted through fomented hate and violence plays out around them. Here’s a tiny snippet but watch the full film below, of course!
The heartbreaking and heartwarming film, written and directed by Pixar veteran Dave Mullins (based on a story by Mullins and Sean Ono Lennon inspired by Sean’s father’s song), won the Academy Award for animated short films at the 2024 Oscars but has been hard to watch until now.
It was just posted free to view on December 1 on the John Lennon YouTube site, with links for people to donate to the nonprofit organization WarChild, which has this laudable and tough mission: “ensuring a safe future for every child affected by war” (UK, USA).
In a press event after the Academy Awards ceremony in 2024 (queued up here), the Mullins said: “The takeaway from it is that there’s a lot of fighting, there’s a lot of war and there’s other ways to solve it. I think that what John and Yoko were trying to say is like maybe talk a little more, kill a little less. That’s the idea and that’s what we tried to show in the film.”
I think they’ve succeeded and am thrilled this film is getting fresh exposure. Please pass this post around, subscribe to Sustain What (paid or unpaid) to help me keep you abreast of such things.
And please do the work needed to turn the tide away from autocracy and violence.
Arts matter, and of course without peace you can largely forget about other sustainability goals.
“War is Over!” back story
Sean Ono Lennon posted a note in January describing the film’s genesis timed to the release of an illustrated book built around the story:
When I was asked to help make a music video for ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ many years later, I was hesitant, to say the least. The song is a masterpiece, after all, and I couldn’t imagine adding anything meaningful to it. While reading through a pile of treatments submitted by various filmmakers, I realized the song really didn’t need a traditional music video. Imagining a family in soft focus smiling around a Christmas tree felt uncharacteristically saccharine. I began to think that I didn’t want to make a music video, but that maybe I wanted to make a short film instead. That way, we could take our time with a narrative that fully explored the themes in the music. Such a serious song deserved a serious film.
I reached out to a friend at Pixar, and he introduced me to Dave Mullins and Brad Booker, who had recently started the production company ElectroLeague. As soon as we met, our creative synergy was apparent. Within an hour or so, we had come up with the outline of what eventually became the film War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko.
Soon after we started preproduction, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. We were suddenly filled with a surreal sense of urgency. My parents’ message of peace seemed as relevant as it had ever been. Our goal was to once again spread that message to the world. Soon we were joined by an incredible all-star team of filmmakers and artists who wanted to help us with our mission.
And here’s a “making of” video:
For the two or three of you who got this far, here’s a view of peaceful hopes in Beacon, New York, in January 2018.
