“Ever since he was a child, Woody has dreamt of playing piano. The problem is that he only has wooden paddles for hands. Stuck in a job he doesn’t want, Woody spends his days dreaming of being a concert pianist. His dreams are big…but they’re about to get out of hand.”
That’s how animator Stuart Bowen sets up the short animated film, simply called “Woody.”
Bowen shot the film on a pretty tight budget, with money raised largely through crowdfunding. The director notes: “We built the sets out of paper, foam-core, & cardboard so we could achieve an ‘in-camera’ look while keeping costs down. We shot black and white because coloured ink was too expensive. We sourced hundreds of Barbie clothes through Facebook to dress the crowd and were extremely fortunate to have a large group of volunteers keen to help make the film.”
Screened at countless film festivals in 2013 and 2014, “Woody” won the award for best animated short at the Seattle Film Festival and received an AACTA award for best short animation (among other accolades).
You can find many other creative animations in our collection, 4,000+ Free Movies Online: Great Classics, Indies, Noir, Westerns, Documentaries & More.
If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newsletter, please find it here.
If you would like to support the mission of Open Culture, consider making a donation to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere. You can contribute through PayPal, Patreon, Venmo (@openculture) and Crypto. Thanks!
Related Content:
Why You Can Never Tune a Piano
Hear Friedrich Nietzsche’s Classical Piano Compositions: They’re Aphoristic Like His Philosophy
The Making of a Steinway Grand Piano, From Start to Finish
Leave a Reply