Watch the Film (above)

The Academy-Award winning animated short film Premiered globally on John Lennon YouTube on December 1st, 2025.

Join us & help raise donations for Warchild

WAR IS OVER!

Set in an alternate WWI reality where a senseless war rages on, two soldiers on opposite sides of the conflict play a game of chess. A heroic carrier pigeon delivers the soldiers’ chess moves over the battlefield as the fighting escalates. Neither soldier knows his opponent as the game and the war builds to its climatic final move. Whoever wins the game, one thing is for certain: there are no winners in war.

Written by Sean Ono Lennon and Dave Mullins, it features John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s iconic anti-war holiday song ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’.

Directed by Dave Mullins, Produced by Brad Booker and Exec Produced by Yoko Ono Lennon and Sean Ono Lennon with music by Thomas Newman, the film has been created as a co-production of Lenono Music, ElectroLeague, Lightstorm Entertainment, WētāFX and Epic Games.

WAR IS OVER! won the 2024 Academy Award (Oscar) and the ANNIE Award for Best Animated Short.

Sean Ono Lennon says: In 2023, I worked with Dave Mullins and Brad Booker on an animated short film called WAR IS OVER! – about a wartime carrier pigeon delivering messages across the battlefield between two chess-playing soldiers – which I’m delighted to say, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.

At 6pm on 1 December this year we are Premiering the film on YouTube and simultaneously raising donations for the charity WARCHILD throughout the holiday season. We would be honoured if you would help us spread the word about the film and John & Yoko’s timeless message – that ‘War is over if you want it’.

Helen Pattinson, CEO of War Child UK says: “I want to thank Sean Ono Lennon, Yoko Ono, Dave Mullins, Brad Booker, Thomas Newman, the John Lennon Estate and all the brilliant people who have come together to create this powerful film. It is an incredibly moving piece of art that shines a light on the tragic consequences of war, which remain all too real in the world today. Their creativity and compassion, as well as that of John and Yoko, continues to help us tell the stories of hundreds-of-millions of children whose lives are being torn apart by conflict, many of whom are currently facing the added dangers of bitter cold, hunger and displacement.

Right now, as temperatures drop in places like Gaza, Afghanistan and Ukraine, families are struggling to stay warm and keep their children safe. Every donation helps us to deliver lifesaving support, from safe spaces and specialist psychological care, to emergency support for essentials like heating fuel and food.

This winter, it is not the thought that counts, but action. Together, we can give children the protection, warmth and hope that they deserve.”

ALSO AVAILABLE

WAR IS OVER! – CHILDREN’S BOOK

WAR IS OVER! is a picture book adaptation of the Oscar-winning animated short film inspired by the song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and illustrated by Max Narciso.

Julia, a carrier pigeon, delivers messages to the battlefield. But she also has a secret mission. Even though the Red Jackets and the Great Coats are at war, Julia helps the soldiers on both sides play a special game to bring each other some joy during the holiday season.

HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) – XMAS SINGLE 12”

For Xmas 2025, UMR in collaboration with Yoko Ono Lennon are releasing a 12” Zoetrope vinyl to celebrate the release of the film ‘WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko’ containing the tracks: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John & Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir; Listen, The Snow Is Falling by Yoko Ono and The Plastic Ono Band plus the Original Score from the film WAR IS OVER!: War Pigeon / A Game Of Chess / A Sudden Interruption / Then Peace, composed by Thomas Newman. Designed by Zoetrope vinyl artist Drew Tetz, both sides of the disc feature animations from the Academy Award-winning film.

XMAS SINGLE 7”

Also for Xmas 2025, UMe in collaboration with Yoko Ono Lennon are releasing an Evergreen coloured vinyl replica of the original 7” single, Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John & Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir c/w Listen, The Snow Is Falling by Yoko Ono and The Plastic Ono Band.
The new Ultimate Mixes of ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ and ‘Listen, The Snow Is Falling’ are Produced by Sean Ono Lennon, Mixed and Engineered by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon, Mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios, Compilation Producer: Simon Hilton.

BIOGRAPHIES

SEAN ONO LENNON

Sean Ono Lennon is the co-writer and executive producer of the Academy Award–winning animated short film War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko. He has won a Grammy and an Annie, recorded on over one hundred albums, scored six films, and illustrated and designed several album covers and books. He is a British-Asian-American musician, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, artist, actor and polymath. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and brother to Kyoko Ono and Julian Lennon. He has been a member of Cibo Matto, Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, Plastic Ono Band and guested with many other bands. He is a prolific songwriter, film score composer and producer and runs independent record label Chimera Music with partner Charlotte Kemp Muhl.
chimeramusic.com / @sean_ono_lennon (Instagram) @seanonolennon (Twitter)

DAVE MULLINS

Dave Mullins is an Academy Award and Annie Award-winning American writer, director, and animator. His directorial debut, the emotionally resonant short film Lou earned an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Short Film and received acclaim at SXSW® Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival, earning nominations for Best Animated Short and Best Family Film, respectively. As the co-founder of ElectroLeague, he draws from a rich two-decade career at Pixar Animation Studios where he played a pivotal role in overseeing animation for Academy Award®-winning masterpieces like Up and Soul. His artistic contributions extended to other acclaimed projects, including the Academy Award®-nominated Incredibles 2 and Golden Globe®-nominated films like Cars 2 and The Good Dinosaur. His animation credits include the iconic films Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., Inside Out, Coco, Cars, Ratatouille, Brace and Stuart Little. David lives and works in Florida.
www.electroleague.com

BRAD BOOKER

Brad Booker is an Academy Award and Annie Award-winning film producer and former animator with three decades of experience in the entertainment industry. Prior to co-founding ElectroLeague, Brad’s productions include Rumble for Paramount Pictures and The Book of Life for 20th Century Fox, which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2015 Golden Globes, the Producers Guild of America, and The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards and also secured 5 Annie Awards. During his 15-year tenure at Reel FX Animation Studios, Brad served as a producer as well as spearheading film development, playing a pivotal role in bringing all 3 of the studio’s animated feature films to the big screen. Brad’s animation credits include Spider-Man, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Stuart Little, Osmosis Jones, The Iron Giant, Quest for Camelot and Apple Jack. Brad lives and works in California.
www.electroleague.com

MAX NARCISO

Max Narciso is the character designer of the Academy Award–winning short film War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko. He is an Italian-born designer, comic artist, sculptor, and animator. He lives in Los Angeles.
@NarcisoMax.

THOMAS NEWMAN

Thomas Newman is widely acclaimed as one of today’s most prominent composers for film. He has composed for more than eighty motion pictures and television series and has earned fifteen Academy Award nominations, one Emmy Award, and six Grammy Awards.

JOHN LENNON

John Lennon is arguably the greatest songwriter of his generation. As founder and leader of The Beatles and also as a solo artist, Lennon has won seven GRAMMY® Awards, including two Lifetime Achievement Awards, Five BRIT Awards including two Special Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music, 21 NME Awards, 15 Ivor Novellos and an Oscar (Academy Award). He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked Lennon in the Top 5 of the magazine’s ‘100 Greatest Singers Of All Time’ list.
johnlennon.com / @johnlennon

YOKO ONO

Originally from Tokyo, Yoko Ono was the first woman admitted to the philosophy program at Gakushuin University in Tokyo, where she studied for a year before moving to New York, where she studied writing and music at Sarah Lawrence College. Ono became an influential conceptual and performance artist prior to her marriage and artistic partnership with John Lennon. George Macunias, founder of the Fluxus collective, gave Ono her first solo gallery show in 1961. From the 1970s to the 1990s, Ono worked on music, both solo and in collaboration. The Whitney Museum of American Art presented a retrospective of her work in 1989, as did the Japan Society Gallery in 2000, and the Museum of Modern Art in 2015, the Tate in 2024 and MCA Chicago in 2025. She received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2009 Venice Biennale. Yoko Ono lives and works in New York City.
imaginepeace.com / @yokoono.