Birds of a Feather:
This book is an art book and pitch bible hybrid for a 2D animated short of ~6-8 minutes.
It explores themes of disability, friendship and being an outcast, its bittersweet twist ending is meant to spark conversation about the way society treats those who are different.
Logline:
A barn owl born without flight feathers wants to join an owl race, but she can’t fly.
With the help of newfound companions, she gathers a set of colourful wings.
But can a bird with borrowed feathers ever compete with a bird that’s already whole?
And does an owl that has learned to adapt to her unfortunate affliction have her own unique powers?
Concept Art/Character Design
Colourscript
Final pitch images/Chapter banners
Why this story?
In our current hyper-individualistic society, those who are different or less able than the majority often get left behind and forgotten.
Many people, myself included, have faced countless injustices and prejudices because we don’t fit into the norm.
Those who are neurodivergent and (also invisibly) disabled often get shunned for being themselves, are called lazy while working as hard as they can, are judged only on the surface, and are isolated from groups, leading to feelings of incredible loneliness.
This short is mainly a commentary on how disabled people using (for example) medication, mobility aids, and help from their network is often seen as cheating by society.
This is caused by a fundamental lack of understanding of what these conditions actually are and do to a person.
These forms of support help us function on a level playing field but still receive many judgmental looks out of pure ignorance.
This short is meant to spark the question of why things like this still happen in our society, to get people thinking about the individuals in their lives, and to hopefully foster a bit more kindness, compassion, and consideration for those who are disabled or different in any way.