War Game (film)
Encyclopedia
War Game is a 2001
animated
short film made by the British
animation company Illuminated Films, and based on the Michael Foreman
novel of the same name. The film included many of the same scenes listed in the book, although four new characters were created.
In the short, the boys (Will, Freddie, Billy, and Lacey), are out playing a game of football when they hear about England declaring war on Germany. As in All Quiet on the Western Front
, the boys waste no time in enlisting in the army (at this point the singing Kitchener springs from his poster
to tell Will that he should 'play the game'). Later that night, Will and Lacey tell their parents and Annie of the great news. While Dad wishes them well, and Annie is sobbing for Lacey, Mum (voiced by Kate Winslet
) tells her boys that war is not a game, and that they will be killed. But regardlessly, the boys leave for France, where they encounter hardships of the trenches, shooting competitions with the Germans, and bully beef.
On Christmas Day, a German soldier walks onto the battleground and invites the English soldiers to a football match. However, the match is broken up by the commanding officers, and the soldiers return to their trenches. That evening the soldiers go over the top and are cut down by artillery and machine gun fire. Lacey, Freddy, and Billy are killed instantaneously. Will is severely wounded, and lies in a shell crater with a German soldier. They exchange photos from home before both men die of their wounds.
The DVD cover has the dedication: "In memory of my uncles who died in the Great War. William James Forman, killed aged 18, Frederick Benjamin Foreman, kille aged 20, William Henry Goddard, killed aged 20, Lacey Christmas Goddard, died of wounds Christmas Day 1918, aged 24."
, the International Student Jury Award at the Banff International Television Festival, Best Production of the Year at the Cartoons on the Bay Festival in Italy and 1st prize at the Cinemagic Festival in Belfast.
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
short film made by the British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
animation company Illuminated Films, and based on the Michael Foreman
Michael Foreman (author / illustrator)
Michael Foreman is an award-winning British author and illustrator, mainly for children. He lives in London. He is one of the best-known and most prolific writer-illustrators of children's books. He was born and grew up in the seaside village of Pakefield, near Lowestoft, Suffolk, where his mother...
novel of the same name. The film included many of the same scenes listed in the book, although four new characters were created.
In the short, the boys (Will, Freddie, Billy, and Lacey), are out playing a game of football when they hear about England declaring war on Germany. As in All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.The...
, the boys waste no time in enlisting in the army (at this point the singing Kitchener springs from his poster
Lord Kitchener Wants You
A 1914 recruitment poster depicting Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, above the words "WANTS YOU" was the most famous image used in the British Army recruitment campaign of World War I. It has inspired many imitations.-Origins:...
to tell Will that he should 'play the game'). Later that night, Will and Lacey tell their parents and Annie of the great news. While Dad wishes them well, and Annie is sobbing for Lacey, Mum (voiced by Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
) tells her boys that war is not a game, and that they will be killed. But regardlessly, the boys leave for France, where they encounter hardships of the trenches, shooting competitions with the Germans, and bully beef.
On Christmas Day, a German soldier walks onto the battleground and invites the English soldiers to a football match. However, the match is broken up by the commanding officers, and the soldiers return to their trenches. That evening the soldiers go over the top and are cut down by artillery and machine gun fire. Lacey, Freddy, and Billy are killed instantaneously. Will is severely wounded, and lies in a shell crater with a German soldier. They exchange photos from home before both men die of their wounds.
The DVD cover has the dedication: "In memory of my uncles who died in the Great War. William James Forman, killed aged 18, Frederick Benjamin Foreman, kille aged 20, William Henry Goddard, killed aged 20, Lacey Christmas Goddard, died of wounds Christmas Day 1918, aged 24."
Awards
The film has won numerous awards including the Children’s Choice Award at the British Animation Awards, Best Television Special at the Annecy International Animated Film FestivalAnnecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring every two years, the festival became annual in 1998...
, the International Student Jury Award at the Banff International Television Festival, Best Production of the Year at the Cartoons on the Bay Festival in Italy and 1st prize at the Cinemagic Festival in Belfast.