Yokaitopia, Glenna Burmer’s newest animated short film, introduces Western audiences to the mysterious world of Yokai — strange, sometimes terrifying, Japanese spirits that inhabit all living and inanimate objects.
Yokai are interwoven into Japanese culture, folklore and everyday life where they serve to explain away seemingly inexplicable events. Their antics range from benign, even comical, to mischievous to downright evil.
The film begins with a young Japanese boy enjoying a carefree bicycle ride through a lush, sun-dappled forest. Suddenly, a mysterious black cat appears in his path, and within minutes his life changes irrevocably.
As the film unfolds, the spirit cat leads the boy through a darkened, creature-filled forest to a secluded house whose front door is protected by an elaborate seal. As soon as he removes the seal, it begins to snow. Inside he finds broken toys trapped by the snow demon Yuki-Onna.
In a display of compassion, he repairs the toys and together they outwit the demon. The spell is broken and the toys are freed, but the story does not stop there: The boy’s kind-hearted gesture will influence his life for decades to come.
The message of kindness and generosity is brought to life in Yokaitopia with sumptuous animation, rich vibrant color palette and stirring all-original musical score.
Award-winning collaboration
Yokaitopia is the third animated film produced by the multi-award-winning collaboration between Glenna Burmer and the animation studio Deep Sky. Unlike most films where the music is composed after filming ends, Burmer’s original music drives the plot. In her creative process, she envisions the storyline, composes the music to relay that narrative, and creates its distinctive characters, then brings it to the animation studio to visually translate the music’s style and atmosphere.
Deep Sky’s design and post-production team perfectly capture the supernatural world of Yokai. The creative team, led by art and animation director Gaby West and creative director Barret Thompson, blended visual effects, lush colors and innovative graphics to provide a visual experience unique in its scope and originality.
More about the production team
A classical composer and award-winning concert and animated-film producer in Seattle, Burmer’s music and original voice create compelling stories that resonate with audiences worldwide. Last year she was featured in Filmmaker Life Magazine in a story that highlighted her artistic voice and unique combination of talents that include bioscientist, composer and filmmaker: “Her scientific mindset informs her precision and curiosity, while her musicality provides emotional depth and cohesion to her stories.”
Before Yokaitopia, Burmer produced two other short animated films that continue to make the rounds internationally via film festival screenings. Her debut film Nana korobi, Ya oki received the 2021 Seattle Filmmaker Award, was selected to tour Great Britain in 2022, and won a Best Animation award at the Alpine International Festival in Bern, Switzerland, where it was shown at the request of festival producers.
Her second award-winning film, Bippy the Little Robot, was also an award-winner at festivals worldwide, including Best Animated Film at the Milan Film Festival where jurors called the film “a small visual masterpiece … The animation, the cinematography and the editing are just perfect.” In 2025, Bippy was selected to be screened with 13 other animated short films from around the world at the Beverly Hills Film Festival.
Deep Sky, based in Portland, Oregon, is a design, post-production and live-action studio known for its groundbreaking work in 2D and 3D animation, motion graphics, product visualization and visual effects. Collaborating with fellow Portland-based studio Imaginary Planet, which specializes in character-centric 2D and 3D animation and development, they bring remarkable versatility in style and genre to their projects.