Westlund Produces The Documentary Dream On Silly Dreamer About Disney - 02/11/06

[BigPigletFan]

Press Release - February 11, 2006

Dream On Silly Dreamer will be available on DVD Feb. 14 at Amazon.com and dreamonsillydreamer.com

On March 25, 2002, more than 200 Disney artists working at the studio’s legendary Feature Animation department in Burbank, Calif. were told that their services were no longer needed. It took one meeting with the president of Feature Animation, now dubbed "The Tom Meeting," to kill 75 years of a beloved animated tradition. The company, best known for its handcrafted animated features, no longer wanted artists to draw for them. Dream On Silly Dreamer is an animated documentary, from director Dan Lund and producer Tony West, that tells this tale.

The film features interviews recorded only seconds after the now infamous “Tom Meeting.” In this documentary, viewers will meet a handful of the artists, hear their side of the story and share in their recollections of "the good old days."

Told as a modern day fairy tale, the film pays homage to the classic Winnie the Pooh shorts. An artist’s sketch book becomes the viewer’s window into this documentary realm with original, animated vignettes helping to tell a side of the story that the world has never heard.

The film had its world premier at Animex in Tee Side, England, but garnered most of its steam during the U.S. premiere just a block away, and a day before, the Disney annual Share Holders Convention in MPLS last February. The film screened all day, selling out every performance.

The film sold out every film festival it was screened at, including The Florida Film Festival, Newport Beach, Sacramento, Jackson Hole and Indie Memphis.

The film's success culminated February 3 when it received the "Certificate of Merit" at the 33rd Annual Annie Awards.

The DVD includes two and a half hours of extras including:

-Super Sized Sequences
-Poster Concept Art
-Premieres & Festival
-Dan’s Original Pitch Artwork
-Original Score scrapbook
-Still Art Gallery
-Bonus Hidden Features
-Early Animation Tests
-Radio Interviews
-News Scrapbook Pages
-Department Goodbyes