The Inspiration room
Steal an idea. Make it yours.
48 little films waiting for your names. Pick one, change anything, and the crew draws it with a voice, music and sound.
All ideas
48 ideas
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Forty and still can't whistle
A funny 20-second birthday film for my sister Maya, who turns 40 today and still can't whistle, starring a very patient kettle that whistles for her.
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Ninety years of bad puns
A warm 30-second birthday film for Grandpa Walt, who turns 90 on Sunday, told through his worst puns and the tomatoes he grows every single summer.
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Leo is six. Dinosaurs agree.
A bouncy birthday film for my son Leo, who turns six on Saturday, where a crowd of friendly dinosaurs hops in to sing him happy birthday.
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Cake, airmail, 4,000 miles
A short birthday film for my best friend Priya in Lisbon, from me in Denver, with a paper plane carrying a slice of cake across the ocean to her door.
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Guardian of the good stapler
A funny 20-second birthday film for our coworker Dana, who guards the good stapler and turns 35 on Friday, signed by the whole team.
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Oops. It's today.
A last-minute birthday film for my brother Sam, who turns 28 today, where I admit I forgot and a tiny marching band shows up to apologize for me.
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Sixty looks good on you
A gentle 30-second birthday film for my mom Linda, who turns 60 in June, with her roses, her morning coffee and the lake she swims in at sunrise.
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The tooth fairy has notes
A tooth fairy video message for my daughter Nora, age 7, where the tooth fairy thanks her for the very clean tooth and asks how the new gap feels.
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Goodnight, Captain Theo
A calm bedtime story film for my son Theo, age 4, who sails a bathtub boat all the way to the moon and falls asleep just before he gets there.
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Big sister, reporting for duty
A film for our daughter Ruby, age 3, telling her a baby brother is coming in March and that she gets to be the official big sister.
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Brave shoes on
A cheerful first-day-of-school film for our son Omar, who starts first grade on Monday with his new red backpack and a small dragon who is nervous too.
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New house, same us
A gentle film for our twins Ava and Eli about moving to a new house in Portland next month: what comes with us, and where the dog will sleep.
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The cat who ate Tuesday
Turn my daughter Zoe's story into a cartoon: she is 8 and wrote about a cat who ate Tuesday, so the whole town skipped straight to Wednesday.
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Grandma is bringing the pie
A video message from Grandma June to her grandkids Milo and Lily, saying she is flying in for Thanksgiving and bringing the famous apple pie.
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It started with a wrong number
A how-we-met film for our wedding: Jess texted the wrong number in 2019, I answered with a pizza joke, and now we are getting married in May.
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Save the date. Bring the goat.
A funny save the date film for Ben and Carla, getting married on October 12 at a farm in Vermont, with a goat who insists on being the ring bearer.
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Ten years, one blanket hog
A 10th anniversary film for my husband Marco, who still steals the whole blanket every night and makes the best Sunday pancakes in the world.
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Every star, a place we went
A dreamy anniversary film for my wife Hana, 15 years married, drawn as a night sky where every star is a place we have been together.
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The cats would like a word
A short Valentine's film for my girlfriend Tess, narrated by our two cats, who argue about which of them loves her more and who gets the good pillow.
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She said yes!
An engagement announcement film for Nick and Amara, who got engaged on a rainy hike last weekend, to send to friends and family in the group chat.
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Fifty years of kitchen dancing
A 50th anniversary film for my parents Ruth and Tom, married in 1976, who still dance in the kitchen every time their song comes on the radio.
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Biscuit has big news
A funny pregnancy announcement film from Kai and Leah, where our dog Biscuit finds out a tiny human arrives in April and is not sure how to feel.
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Nurse Alex, finally
A graduation film for my brother Alex, who just finished nursing school after four years of night shifts, cold coffee and flash cards on the bus.
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Gone fishing. For good.
A retirement film for our coworker Frank, who is leaving after 32 years at the warehouse to fish, nap, and finally fix up his old boat.
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Thank you, Grandma Rose
A gentle memorial film for my grandmother Rose, who loved her garden, baked bread every Friday, and always kept the porch light on for us.
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Good boy, Buster
A soft goodbye film for our dog Buster, who chased every leaf for 13 years and slept on the warm spot by the door. We miss him every day.
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Farewell, desk neighbor
A goodbye film for Mei, who leaves our team on Friday after six years, full of the snacks she shared and the jokes only she understood.
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Welcome, little Ezra
A birth announcement film for our son Ezra, born on a snowy Tuesday at 7 pounds 2 ounces, already loud, already loved, already bossing the cat.
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The Parkers survived the year
An animated holiday card from the Parker family: two kids, one grumpy cat, a very burnt turkey, and a year we are happy to wrap up with a bow.
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Mom finds every shoe
A Mother's Day film from Jonah and Mia, ages 5 and 8, telling Mom all the things she is best at, including finding every single lost shoe.
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Dad jokes: the movie
A Father's Day card for my dad Greg, starring his three favorite terrible jokes and the grill he refuses to let anyone else touch.
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Here's to a slow, kind January
A calm New Year greeting from Anna and Luis, looking back at a year of small wins and wishing our friends a slow, kind start to January.
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Thankful, and very full
A Thanksgiving message from the Rivera family, listing what we are grateful for this year, from Aunt Rosa's stuffing to the new baby at the table.
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Snow over the town square
A dreamy winter greeting from the Maple Street choir to everyone who came to our concert, with snow falling softly over the town square.
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Boo! It's only us
A bouncy Halloween invite for the Kim family's backyard party on October 31, with a friendly ghost who is secretly scared of the neighbor's cat.
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The moon forgot its keys
Animate my short poem about the moon forgetting its keys and asking the stars to let it back in, read slowly in my own voice.
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Is a hot dog a sandwich?
A 30-second animated clip from our podcast Snack Court, where Jo and Dev argue about whether a hot dog is a sandwich, cut tall for social media.
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A lighthouse keeps a secret
A book trailer for my first mystery novel, The Keeper of Gull Rock, about a lighthouse keeper who finds a letter hidden in the wall since 1952.
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Look at that S car go
Animate my favorite joke: a snail buys a fast red car, paints a big S on the side, and everyone on the street yells look at that S car go.
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Three people and a dog
Turn my 40-second voice memo about the night our band played to three people and one very excited dog into a short, bouncy cartoon.
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Tiny robot, big garden
A 20-second film with no words: a tiny robot waters one flower every morning until, one day, the whole garden wakes up and waves back.
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Welcome to Sawdust Sundays
A bouncy intro for my woodworking channel, Sawdust Sundays, with flying wood shavings, a happy hammer and my name, Ellie, stamped in big letters.
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Warm buns at 7 a.m.
A 20-second film for Rosie's Bakery on Elm Street: warm croissants, the first customer at 7 a.m., and our new cinnamon buns for fall.
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We fix leaks, not moods
A funny ad for Dripless Plumbing in Austin: a leaky sink cries all night until our plumber Carlos shows up with a big grin and a wrench.
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Mango Thunder is here
A bold launch film for our new hot sauce, Mango Thunder, made in small batches in our kitchen in Tucson and on the shelves June 1.
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Our year in five drawings
A holiday thank-you film for the clients of Birch and Pine, a two-person design studio, showing our year in five small, happy drawings.
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Breathe in. Class is at six.
A calm film for Still Water Yoga's new evening classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m., with the first class free for neighbors.
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Five years, every dog's name
A work anniversary film for our shop manager Denise, five years with us, who knows every regular by name and every dog by its favorite treat.
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