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EXCLUSIVE: Disney+ has a Retirement Plan. The streamer has added John Kelly’s Oscar-shortlisted animated short film to its service in the UK and across Europe. Putting more wind in the film’s sails, Domhnall Gleeson (The Paper), who voices the film, has officially come on as an exec producer.
Retirement Plan had a world premiere at the Galway Film Festival before going on to win the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award in the Animated Short Competition at SXSW. It also took the Best of the Festival Award at Palm Springs International ShortFest.
The gently comic film follows Ray (Gleeson), a man navigating the overload and fatigue of midlife and mentally wheeling through all the things he dreams of doing upon retirement. Ray sees himself writing poetry, taking up adventure sports, growing veg and even delivering the perfect final words to his loved ones as the film unfolds. There’s something of a reality check along the way when he also says he does not have a pension, but that does not stop him imagining a richly fulfilling retirement.
Dublin-based filmmaker Kelly co-wrote the short with New York-based writer Tara Lawall. “We weren’t thinking about a wider audience when making this film, we just wanted to tell a personal, slightly esoteric story that made us laugh, think and feel a bit wobbly. To see it connect with so many people, and now reach the Oscar shortlist, is unimaginable.”
Kelly previously told Deadline how he “basically made a panic attack into a short film.”
Retirement Plan is produced by Andrew Freedman and Julie Murnaghan. The project is one of 15 titles on the shortlist for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, which is for films under 40 minutes.
English (US) ·