December 19, 2025 • 6 mins
Son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Lennon is presenting his Oscar-winning animated film, "War Is Over." He tells Bret about making the project, remembering John Lennon and who topped his Spotify playlist in 2025.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi. How lucky are we to get the chance to
talk with Sean Lennon, the son of John Lennon and
Yoko Ono. You need to see his animated film War
Is Over, inspired by the music of John and Yoko.
Here's Sean Lennon on the Brett Sonders podcast. Yeah, nice
to meet you, brat Sean Lennon. I am a big
fan of your work. I really like your music. You
(00:22):
put on an album called Asterisms. That thing blew my mind.
You're quite the artist, sir.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you man. Yeah, that was just last year, and
that was on John Zorn's jazzly Bolsatic. It was my
first instrumental record and it actually is something I'm pretty
proud of, so thanks for mentioning it.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
When I think about the things that you do creatively,
you are operating very much in the spirit of both
of your pearents. And this Academy Award winning short film,
which is magnificent by the way, it's called War Is
Over inspired by the music of John and Yoko. How
terrific to make an animated film inspired by this song.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah. Well, it actually turned out better than I ever
could have dreamed. But at first it seemed like you know,
an overly ambitious idea. But after we got the Oscar nomination,
that was when I finally realized that it had been
a good idea all along.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
I should also mention it is available to view now
on YouTube. I suggest all of our listeners watched this
thing because well, maybe you could lay out the storyline
better than I could show.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Sure. Well, the idea was to encapsulate the meaning of
the song Happy Christmas. War was over by my parents.
Instead of just doing a straightforward music video that was
visuals paired with music, we wanted to make a real story,
a miniature story that had a narrative end that used
(01:53):
them the song as sort of part of the score,
part of the soundtrack to a short film. So that
was the concept. And it's about two soldiers on opposing
sides of a war who are friends with a messenger
pigeon that goes back and forth between to both sides,
and they are using that message and pigeon to play
(02:14):
chess to send the chessmans back and forth, and the
story unfolds from there. I don't want to give too
much away. It's only eleven minutes to go check it out,
and it's free to watch on the John Running channel.
If you just search wars over film, it'll come up,
and if you want to watch it, please and if
you like it, please send it to your friends. I
(02:35):
think it's an important message. And also it's an opportunity
to donate to War Child, which is a very good
charity that raises money and helps them children, especially in
families with children who are affected by war all over
the world.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Of course, this is also very much in the spirit
of the incredible work that your parents have done. Do
you see yourself working further animation, because this well with
the Oscar and watching it myself, it's excellent.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Well, thank you. I honestly I do have ideas that
it's not easy to pull off, and this film just
had so much sort of miraculous support. I would say
there were a lot of fortuitous things that happened and
friendships that came through that I wouldn't expect to happen ever. Again,
(03:26):
for example, you know, I had just been getting to
know Peter Jackson. We became friends through working on the
Get Back film for the Beatles. Yeah, and I knew
that he liked war and soldiers not liked war. That's
the time he was. He's a historian of all the
battles of World War One and he has toy soldiers
(03:48):
that recreate the battles, and he's really a scholar, I
would say, And so I actually had a zoom with
him about get back where he would be, you know,
working on these soldiers. You know, it's something that he
really is interested in as a hobby. Said. When we
had the script for this film, I knew that he
(04:09):
might be interested, but I wasn't sure. I didn't ask
him to help us with the film. I just sent
him the script just to see what he would think.
And he, you know, of course, volunteered to have we
to do the graphics ons, which was a miracle because frankly,
you look at the film, especially if you ever get
to see it on a big screen, it looks unbelievable.
And that's only because Weeda came in. We wouldn't have
(04:31):
been able to afford that level of quality with the
animation of the graphics without him. So that was sort
of a miracle and I don't know that that could
ever happen again.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Well, and Peter Jackson can move mountains.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
He does, yeah, he literally can generate mountains.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
We only have a moment left. I did want to
touch on something I don't really want to, but I should.
It's the forty fifth anniversary of the loss of your
dad this week, and I want to to commend you
for how you have managed to keep your dad, you
and your mom both, how you keep your dad's memory
in the public eye in such a beautiful and productive way.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Thank you. Well. Look, you know, people sometimes wonder why
I'm fairly quiet on December eighth, and it's not because
I'm not thinking about my dad. It's because my mother
actually always had a policy, let's say, where she didn't
really want to make a big deal out of December eighth.
She'd rather celebrate October ninth, which is when my dad
(05:34):
was born, right, And I think that makes sense, you know,
she doesn't. She didn't want to celebrate the day he died.
She wanted to celebrate the day he was born. So
that's why I tend to keep a little bit quiet,
even though I really appreciate all the tributes online, and
I do receive, you know, thousands and thousands of messages
that are really heartwarming and mean a lot to both
(05:54):
my mother and I. But generally speaking, I just try
to try to move on and focus on my life
in December and really trying to celebrate him in October.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Finally, I want to mention your Spotify rap playlist you
are most listened to act in twenty twenty five was
the glorious British band The Fall. You have good taste, man.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I've gotten to the point where I don't even think
I can exercise unless I have The Fall playing. How
do you recommend it? It's a very energetic band and
there's something about it just that just makes you want
to push yourself. I don't know. I don't know a
lot of people like to listen to sort of like
hardware hip hop or texto or something, but I think
(06:39):
The Fall is the best workout music.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Thank you for everything that you do. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Thanks. That's talking to you.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I'm glad you listened to this podcast. Hey, drop me
a line. It's Brett b. R e T at KBCO
dot com. I'll see you next time.
Hi. How lucky are we to get the chance to
talk with Sean Lennon, the son of John Lennon and
Yoko Ono. You need to see his animated film War
Is Over, inspired by the music of John and Yoko.
Here's Sean Lennon on the Brett Sonders podcast. Yeah, nice
to meet you, brat Sean Lennon. I am a big
fan of your work. I really like your music. You
(00:22):
put on an album called Asterisms. That thing blew my mind.
You're quite the artist, sir.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you man. Yeah, that was just last year, and
that was on John Zorn's jazzly Bolsatic. It was my
first instrumental record and it actually is something I'm pretty
proud of, so thanks for mentioning it.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
When I think about the things that you do creatively,
you are operating very much in the spirit of both
of your pearents. And this Academy Award winning short film,
which is magnificent by the way, it's called War Is
Over inspired by the music of John and Yoko. How
terrific to make an animated film inspired by this song.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah. Well, it actually turned out better than I ever
could have dreamed. But at first it seemed like you know,
an overly ambitious idea. But after we got the Oscar nomination,
that was when I finally realized that it had been
a good idea all along.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
I should also mention it is available to view now
on YouTube. I suggest all of our listeners watched this
thing because well, maybe you could lay out the storyline
better than I could show.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Sure. Well, the idea was to encapsulate the meaning of
the song Happy Christmas. War was over by my parents.
Instead of just doing a straightforward music video that was
visuals paired with music, we wanted to make a real story,
a miniature story that had a narrative end that used
(01:53):
them the song as sort of part of the score,
part of the soundtrack to a short film. So that
was the concept. And it's about two soldiers on opposing
sides of a war who are friends with a messenger
pigeon that goes back and forth between to both sides,
and they are using that message and pigeon to play
(02:14):
chess to send the chessmans back and forth, and the
story unfolds from there. I don't want to give too
much away. It's only eleven minutes to go check it out,
and it's free to watch on the John Running channel.
If you just search wars over film, it'll come up,
and if you want to watch it, please and if
you like it, please send it to your friends. I
(02:35):
think it's an important message. And also it's an opportunity
to donate to War Child, which is a very good
charity that raises money and helps them children, especially in
families with children who are affected by war all over
the world.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Of course, this is also very much in the spirit
of the incredible work that your parents have done. Do
you see yourself working further animation, because this well with
the Oscar and watching it myself, it's excellent.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Well, thank you. I honestly I do have ideas that
it's not easy to pull off, and this film just
had so much sort of miraculous support. I would say
there were a lot of fortuitous things that happened and
friendships that came through that I wouldn't expect to happen ever. Again,
(03:26):
for example, you know, I had just been getting to
know Peter Jackson. We became friends through working on the
Get Back film for the Beatles. Yeah, and I knew
that he liked war and soldiers not liked war. That's
the time he was. He's a historian of all the
battles of World War One and he has toy soldiers
(03:48):
that recreate the battles, and he's really a scholar, I
would say, And so I actually had a zoom with
him about get back where he would be, you know,
working on these soldiers. You know, it's something that he
really is interested in as a hobby. Said. When we
had the script for this film, I knew that he
(04:09):
might be interested, but I wasn't sure. I didn't ask
him to help us with the film. I just sent
him the script just to see what he would think.
And he, you know, of course, volunteered to have we
to do the graphics ons, which was a miracle because frankly,
you look at the film, especially if you ever get
to see it on a big screen, it looks unbelievable.
And that's only because Weeda came in. We wouldn't have
(04:31):
been able to afford that level of quality with the
animation of the graphics without him. So that was sort
of a miracle and I don't know that that could
ever happen again.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Well, and Peter Jackson can move mountains.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
He does, yeah, he literally can generate mountains.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
We only have a moment left. I did want to
touch on something I don't really want to, but I should.
It's the forty fifth anniversary of the loss of your
dad this week, and I want to to commend you
for how you have managed to keep your dad, you
and your mom both, how you keep your dad's memory
in the public eye in such a beautiful and productive way.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Thank you. Well. Look, you know, people sometimes wonder why
I'm fairly quiet on December eighth, and it's not because
I'm not thinking about my dad. It's because my mother
actually always had a policy, let's say, where she didn't
really want to make a big deal out of December eighth.
She'd rather celebrate October ninth, which is when my dad
(05:34):
was born, right, And I think that makes sense, you know,
she doesn't. She didn't want to celebrate the day he died.
She wanted to celebrate the day he was born. So
that's why I tend to keep a little bit quiet,
even though I really appreciate all the tributes online, and
I do receive, you know, thousands and thousands of messages
that are really heartwarming and mean a lot to both
(05:54):
my mother and I. But generally speaking, I just try
to try to move on and focus on my life
in December and really trying to celebrate him in October.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Finally, I want to mention your Spotify rap playlist you
are most listened to act in twenty twenty five was
the glorious British band The Fall. You have good taste, man.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I've gotten to the point where I don't even think
I can exercise unless I have The Fall playing. How
do you recommend it? It's a very energetic band and
there's something about it just that just makes you want
to push yourself. I don't know. I don't know a
lot of people like to listen to sort of like
hardware hip hop or texto or something, but I think
(06:39):
The Fall is the best workout music.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Thank you for everything that you do. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Thanks. That's talking to you.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I'm glad you listened to this podcast. Hey, drop me
a line. It's Brett b. R e T at KBCO
dot com. I'll see you next time.
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