When Will McCormack and Michael Govier set out to write and direct a short animated film about a couple mourning their child, they had no idea it would become a viral hit and win an Academy Award. But they did know they also wanted to turn it into a book.
"If Anything Happens I Love You," the film, opens on two parents sitting apart in the throes of an unnamed grief. Over 10 wordless minutes we realize their daughter has died in a school shooting. The short, which won an Oscar for animated short in 2021, found its force in suggestive vignettes illustrated by Youngran Nho. The graphic novel the co-directors conceived would tell the same story very differently. Instead of blacks and grays permeating the screen, they wanted the book painted in blues, greens and yellows celebrating a child's life. This time there would be words, and they would be spoken by the girl who was lost.
"Everyone talks about the day I died, which is a shame. Because they never talk about how I lived. People say I was only twelve years old. But it was my twelve years. And I lived a lot. Hi, I'm Rose."
