A Look At NAACP Image Award Winning Animated Film 'Canvas'

Dealing the grief and loss is a soul-shaking journey. It forces us to readjust and live life in a brand new way. If we’re not careful, the weight of grief can cause us to lose even more than our loved ones. We could lose ourselves.

In those difficult times, we need to find the inspiration to find a new path. Canvas, an animated Netflix film is this year’s NAACP Image Award winner for Outstanding Short-Film, Animated and it is obvious why this film ranked the highest. It conveys the truth that love can save us from despair and inspire us to try again– a message that is clearly needed during these uncertain times.

Directed by Frank E. Abney III, who is a Pixar, Dreamworks, and Walt Disney Animated Studios alum, Canvas tells the story of a grandfather who’s struggling with grief and loses his creative passion for painting after suffering a heart-breaking loss of the passing of his wife. Because of his curious granddaughter, who stumbles upon a painting of his wife, he rediscovers his creative spark again. 

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An inspirational film that pulls on the heartstrings, it’s garnered widespread critical acclaim.

Canvas is a film that gives you all the feels, even a few we didn’t know we needed to experience right now. In just over nine minutes, without one word uttered, Canvas, taps into the human emotions and the resiliency of the human spirit. It conveys the importance of how family can help us as we navigate through life’s ups and downs. In tough times, we need others who love us to pull us out of our rut and remind us to rekindle our creative fire.

Canvas is a vivid, visually stunning, depiction of finding the beauty in life while navigating through loss. It speaks to how enduring a significant loss has a way of snatching the creative spirit from us and we always need someone close by to help us reclaim our source of inspiration. Plus, all the characters are African American and so in itself, it provides an insight into just how much representation matters on screen.

A beautiful lesson about life, loss, and love, Canvas reveals that when the pictures of our past seem too much to bear, we can be inspired again to paint a new portrait.

Take a look at the trailer below and experience Canvas  for yourself on Netflix today.