This is a great story about love
survival under difficult circumstances A true story by Shigeru Yab
” This personal and poignant story will be enjoyed by readers of all ages ”
Irene Hirano President CEO Japanese American National Museum
Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation
Joy Terakoa was 15 when she was removed from her home by the US government and placed in a detention facility in Heart Mountain, WY, one of 10 camps holding over 120,000 Japanese American during WWII
Get to know Heart Mountain
“Hello Maggie” a touching tale of friendship between boy and bird in WWII camp | ABC7 –
Heart Mountain Interpretive Center
A Brief History of Heart Mountain Relocation Center
TEAM
Willie Ito
DIRECTOR, ANIMATOR, CHARACTER DESIGNER, ILLUSTRATOR
Willie Ito is an American animator.
He worked for Walt Disney Animation Studios in the 1950, moved to Warner Brothers Productions and Hanna-Barbera Productions as a character designer and animator, and later returned to Disney.
Willie Ito received the Golden Award from the Motion Picture Cartoonist Guild, the Pacific Citizen’s APA award, an Inkpot Award (2014) and the NJAHS Legacy Award. A Boy of Heart Mountain’ won the 2010 Independent Publishers Book Award for “Best Multicultural Children’s Fiction Book”.
In 2020 he received the Winsor McCay Award.
Tony Tarantini
DIRECTOR, TEACHER, STORYBOARD ARTIST, ILLUSTRATOR
Tony Tarantini is a seasoned professional in the animation industry, accumulating over two decades of rich experience. He currently serves as a full-time professor in the Animation Program at Sheridan College in Canada.
He is passionate about teaching and has mentored hundreds of young filmmakers over the last two decades.
Throughout his career, Tony has engaged in various areas of animation production. He has contributed his expertise to an array of features and animated TV series, including noteworthy projects such as American Tail, Ace Ventura, Magi-Nation, Ewoks, Beetlejuice, Tales From The Cryptkeeper, Pippi Longstocking.
He has also been involved in award-winning animation productions that garnered international recognition, such as the Care Bears, Little Bear, Babar, George Shrinks, The Magic School Bus, Franklin, alongside several acclaimed short animated films like Yujo, Wish, and Life is a Great Adventure.
Sandro Cleuzo
ANIMATOR, CHARACTER DESIGNER, ILLUSTRATOR, WRITER
Sandro started his career in Brazil, where he learned about the art of animation.
He later travelled to Dublin to reach Don Bluth’s studio, where he started to work on feature films,such as Thumbelina.
In 1997 he was hired by the Disney Animation Studios to work as an animator on Fantasia 2000,
The Emperor’s New Groove, Home on the Range and Enchanted.
As a freelance artist, he has worked on Asterix and the Vikings, Angry Birds, Kubo and the Two Strings, Scooby! and Space Jam:
A New Legacy.In 2019 Sandro won an Annie Award for his work on Mary Poppins Returns
Jame Lopez
ANIMATOR, CHARACTER DESIGNER, ILLUSTRATOR
James Lopez is a veteran Disney animator who has been working as a professional in the animation industry for 30 years.
His credits at Disney include being a Lead Animator on films such as ‘The Emperor’s New Groove’ and ‘Hercules’ and as an animator on the character “Dr. Facilier” in ‘The Princess and the Frog’ and “Timon” in ‘The Lion King‘.
He has also worked for studios such as Warner Bros., Dreamworks and Nickelodeon in both television and features and has performed a variety of positions that range from Directing, Storyboarding, Layout, Art Direction, Production Design and Character Design.
He is an alumni of CalArts where he has taught drawing and animation to inspire a new generation of artists.
Carlo Chiarotti
MUSIC COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR, SOUND DESIGNER
Carlo Chiarotti is a freelance composer, specializing in cartoons, but also composes for films and documentaries.
He is the composer for the FAT UNICORN animation studio in FLORENCE, and has several compositions for cartoons, films and documentaries to his credit.
He currently directs the Florence Pops Orchestra.
Winner of the Best Original Song award.2023 at the SYDNEY WORLD FESTIVAL.
Winner of “The Best Soundtrack 2023” award at the SOUTH ITALY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL-Winner of The Best Original Score 2023 award at the PONZA FILM FESTIVAL Winner of “The Best Original Score 2023” award at the MORGANA FILM FESTIVAL
A great crew
Students from Sheridan College and Nemo Academy have been with their support, the heart of the production.
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