It’s official! Bippy the Little Robot will be screened at the famed Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Thursday, April 3, as part of the Beverly Hills Film Festival.
Bippy, the latest animated film from Glenna Burmer, will be shown with 13 other animated short films beginning at 11:15 a.m. on April 3. All films will be screened at the TCL Chinese Theater, better known as Grauman’s Chinese Theater, located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd — a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame. The animated films screened during that time are primarily from the United States with two from Canada, and one each from Italy and India.
In true Hollywood fashion, Burmer will walk the red carpet that evening in a media event geared toward photo opps and interviews. Festival organizers have put together an array of exciting publicity events and VIP after-parties along with workshops, panel discussions and seminars. A black-tie celebrity-studded VIP Gala will be held at the five-star luxury Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
The Beverly Hills Film Festival is considered one of the most exclusive and influential film festivals. Held in the backyard of the entertainment capital of the world, the prestigious festival attracts more than 55,000 attendees each year. Celebrating its 25th season, this year’s Beverly Hills Film Festival runs April 1-6, 2025.
Film festival tickets can be purchased now.
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.
This is the second animated film produced by Glenna Burmer in collaboration with Deep Sky & Imaginary Planet. The team’s first joint project, Nana korobi, Ya oki, completed in spring 2021, won more than 50 festival awards worldwide.
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.
Deep Sky’s design/post-production work and Imaginary Planet’s 2D and 3D animation perfectly capture the story’s bleak post-apocalyptic world. The innovative motion graphics used in the dance sequence between Anna and Bippy, along with additional 2D and 3D animation, result in a digital montage that is unique in its scope and originality.