Life, Animated

When he fell into silence, movies gave him back his voice

At three years old, a chatty, energetic little boy named Owen Suskind ceased to speak, disappearing into autism with apparently no way out. Almost four years passed and the only stimuli that engaged Owen were Disney films. Then one day, his father donned a puppet—Iago, the wisecracking parrot from Aladdin—and asked “what’s it like to be you?” And poof! Owen replied, with dialogue from the movie. Life, Animated tells the remarkable story of how Owen found in Disney animation a pathway to language and a framework for making sense of the world.

Cast

Owen Suskind

Himself

Ron Suskind

Himself

Jonathan Freeman

Himself

Gilbert Gottfried

Himself

Crew

Roger Ross Williams

Director

Dylan Stark

Original Music Composer

Ron Suskind

Executive Producer

Christopher Clements

Co-Producer

Ron Suskind

Book

Philippe Sonrier

Animation Manager

Carolyn Hepburn

Co-Producer

Thomas Bergmann

Director of Photography

Lindsay Richardson

Associate Producer

Carolyn Hepburn

Production Manager

Clips & Videos

Official Trailer