Synopsis
“Great Apes!” is a non-narrative, musical 2-D animated short film by Neil McDonald. Over the course of the film, the viewer is taken into the chaotic utopia of Simian City, a literal urban jungle where man and ape live together in harmony. By juxtaposing the worlds of ape and men together, we are invited to contemplate the fact that we humans are also great apes. The joyful, naïve vision of community between apes portrayed in the film is a stark contrast to the real situation that apes face today, and the subtext of the piece is a message of conservation:- that we should aspire to save the animals that, as shown by the film, are fascinating, charismatic creatures.
The film was developed in collaboration with Edinburgh Zoo, and will show at the Budongo Trail chimpanzee enclosure later in 2009 to raise funds for the Budongo chimpanzee research station.

Staff
Neil McDonald - Director, animator
Collaborators: Andrew McDonald, Chris Seed, Cayleigh Gardner, Chris McDonald, Ewan Bachell, Stephen Bell, Gareth Allen, Mark Haldane, Alex Ashman, Jenny Gauci, Mark Boon, Dean Kehrer, Sinéad Bracken & Bobby McDonald