Bippy the Little Robot, the newest animated short film from Glenna Burmer, was recognized for its animation and sci-fi theme with awards from four film festivals.
On the international front, Bippy took home an award for Best 2D Animation from the Pineapple Animation Festival based in Marbella, Spain. In addition, juries at the Hamburg Indie Film Festival and the Stockholm Short Festival selected Bippy for Best Animated Short awards.
In the U. S., Bippy the Little Robot won the top award for Best Sci-Fi film at the San Diego International Film Awards.
The story of Bippy the Little Robot takes place in the future after humans are annihilated; all that remains are broken and forgotten machines. But the bleak landscape does not deter Bippy, a perky little trashcan, who sets out with his android-cat sidekick on a journey to find if other machines still exist.
In an abandoned music studio, the little robot discovers a broken-down piano where he improvises a jazz piece that awakens a pink toaster named Anna. In a swirling dance sequence using innovative motion capture, Anna and Bippy perform a dreamy pas de deux that personifies the beauty and resilience of the human spirit. As music fills the air, the future, once dismal, grows a little brighter.
Unlike most films where the music is composed after filming ends, Burmer’s music drives the story. In her creative process, she envisions the storyline, composes the music to relay that narrative, and creates distinctive characters, then brings in an animation studio to visually translate the music’s style and atmosphere.
This inspirational message of hope is resonating with audiences worldwide. Besides winning awards at the Berlin and India film festivals, Bippy was also selected for the Best Animation CGI/VFX Award at the prestigious Golden Swan Zurich festival. Last fall, Bippy won awards at film festivals in Paris, Milan, Florence, Zurich, Turkey, Berlin, and Albania, as well as the U.S.
Bippy is the second animated film produced by Glenna Burmer in collaboration with Deep Sky & Imaginary Planet. The team’s first joint project was Nana korobi, Ya oki, completed in spring 2021, which also is a favorite on the film festival circuit, winning more than 60 awards worldwide.