Sgt. Stubby is the first film of its kind based on a true story, which also meant making military history accessible to children. I was tasked with leading the creation of 2D sequences to accompany Helena Bonham Carter’s narration in ways that wouldn’t be dry or overtly educational in the middle of an animated dog movie.

Working with artists from Mikros Animation and Caribara Montreal, we tried to avoid the standard documentary-style arrows and flags to denote troop movements by making our maps more in the style of a board game.

Not only is the Risk-style animation easy to understand, but it’s a subtle nod to Stubby and the 26th “Yankee” Division’s roots — Milton Bradley, the Parker Brothers, and the Hassenfeld Brothers (Hasbro) were all New Englanders and finding their earliest successes during Stubby’s era.

We also took direct inspiration from the propaganda posters and print media, with each newspaper assembled using real archival articles and headlines of the day.

I wrote, edited, and directed the YouTube series Sgt. Stubby: The Making of a Hero and all behind-the-scenes featurettes for the DVD/Blu-ray release with Paramount Pictures, providing a first-hand view of the CG animation process and Stubby’s real-life history.