Sheridan professor, students and alumni team with Disney animators to tell Japanese internment story

Rin Cogill's childhood memories of learning about her Japanese-Canadian heritage include hearing about how her grandfather was forced to work on a sugar beet farm and visiting the British Columbia internment camp her grandmother was born in during World War II.

Little did Cogill know at the time that she'd eventually play a key role in ensuring that stories like her grandparents' would live on for generations to come.

Cogill (Honours Bachelor of Animation '23) is one of many Sheridan connections to Hello Maggie!, a touching 21-minute, 2D animated short based on a true tale of friendship between nine-year-old Shigeru Yabu and a magpie in a detention facility near Heart Mountain, WY — one of 10 internment camps where Americans of Japanese descent were confined following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The film, which premiered last summer in Cody, WY, was directed by long-time Sheridan animation professor Tony Tarantini; more than 50 Sheridan internship students worked on the project over a five-year span; and several Animation graduates returned to help put the finishing touches on Hello Maggie!, including Cogill as a production manager.

"The opportunity to work on this film for my internship was incredibly well-timed," says Cogill, who now teaches watercolour painting professionally and credits her internship experience for building her confidence working with digital tools. "This was a production I really wanted to be a part of because I truly felt like I had a confident understanding of the narrative being told."

So did Tarantini, a veteran of classic series such as Beetlejuice, The Care Bears, and The Magic School Bus. He first became involved in 2020 after being recommended by Luca Chiarotti, director of Italy's Nemo Academy of Digital Arts, to legendary Disney animator Willie Ito (Lady and the Tramp; What's Opera, Doc?) Ito had illustrated a children's book about Shig Yabu's childhood memories but wanted to bring the story to life through an animated film. "Luca sent me the book and a link to an interview with Mr. Yabu at Heart Mountain," Tarantini recalls. "I was deeply moved, but it was a virtual meeting with Willie that sealed it for me. Willie reminded me of my own father, who had barely survived a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp, and that personal resonance turned tentative interest into full commitment."

“Willie (Ito) reminded me of my own father, who had barely survived a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp, and that personal resonance turned tentative interest into full commitment.”

– Sheridan animation professor and Hello Maggie! director Tony Tarantini

Ito, the film's creative producer and cultural advisor, was joined by several other past and current Disney animators who were involved with the project throughout the years: Dietz Ichishita as a clean-up artist; Sandro Cleuzo and James Lopez as animation supervisors; and Tom Bancroft and John Pomeroy as guest supporters. Italian electronic music producer Simone Papi led sound design; the score was provided by Italian composer and maestro Carlo Chiarotti and his Florence orchestra; and numerous Nemo students worked on storyboarding, animation and design.

Production of the film was done almost entirely virtually, beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic when internship opportunities — particularly paid ones — were harder to find. "I'm very grateful to have been able to be paid while working on Hello Maggie!" says Carol Zhou (Honours Bachelor of Animation '25), who spent her internship assisting with clean-up animation, animation colouring and compositing. "I also benefited from how many industry veterans were involved in the project and gave demos on how to clean up animation, providing me with a lot of tips and tricks."

"If it wasn't for Sheridan's support, this could have never been done," adds Tarantini. "Administration gave me time in the spring and summer months to work on a project I cared about, similar to a research project. And the ability to create paid internship opportunities for students through a teacher-led project made this a win-win."

Theresa Scandiffio, FAAD Associate Dean of Animation and Game Design, agrees Hello Maggie! was beneficial for all involved. “Sheridan immensely values one of its bench strengths being a faculty roster who remain active in industry and bring those modern insights and perspectives to the classroom,” she says. “This project provided wonderful and meaningful opportunity for many of our students to work alongside Tony, build their professional network and gain valuable experiences that will inform their future careers as artists and animators.”

Hello Maggie! was recently screened in the SCAET Building of Sheridan's Trafalgar Campus and was also featured in the A Wing of Hazel McCallion Campus as part of Sheridan's Faculty & Staff Exhibition. The film will also be showcased in various international festivals this year, and the Heart Mountain Foundation — which contributed funding for the project and owns the intellectual property — plans to play it for Heart Mountain Interpretive Centre visitors for years to come.

“I don't think we can ever get enough of everyone else's stories.”

– Honours Bachelor of Animation graduate Rin Cogill

"It feels both wonderful and bittersweet that this film made it to completion. My grandfather passed away last year so I cannot show him the finished film, but I think he'd be happy to know that this story is out there. It's not his exact story, but I liken his mischievous childhood to Shigeru's experiences," Cogill says.

"The Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians who lived through internment won't be around forever, and this project has made me want to showcase their experiences through shareable pieces of media — not just about internment, but also Japanese-North American culture in general.

“I don't think we can ever get enough of everyone else's stories."