Dinosaurs In Love by Fenn Rosenthal (featuring Tom Rosenthal)

On January 28th, 2020, musician and dad Tom Rosenthal tweeted, “Fenn, my nearly 4-year-old daughter, recorded her first-ever solo song today. She came up with all the words herself and I helped her a little bit with the tune.” Fenn’s recording was attached to the tweet. In it, you can hear Tom as he plays piano and encourages her to sing her lyrics. The song was an instant viral hit.

On February 1st, animators and Rosenthal collaborators Hannah Jacobs, Katy Wang, and Anna Ginsburg released a music video for it, “made in only 24 hours using 2D frame by frame animation.” From It’s Nice That:

So, how do you make an animated music video in a day? “With very little sleep!” explains Jacobs, and “the generosity of the amazing animators I know who gave over their day and night to help us out.” Jacobs describes the process as “a case of extreme tag teaming and multi tasking,” Ginsburg writing out ideas, Jacobs designing the film and putting style frames together. Quickly, the animation team amounted to seven people (thanks, Wang says, to Hannah at Strange Beast pulling it all together). Together, the crew worked at eight frames per second to bring the workload down, making use of the simple style to make the project feasible…

Then, in a whirlwind, it was out in the world, and the results match the endearing humour of the song itself.

Please note: There’s a sharp turn in this bittersweet short story. And, well, it may not be scientifically accurate.

Put down your fruit, 3-year-old Fenn just released the most heartbreaking track of 2020 with her dad @tomrosenthal. Listen to Dinosaurs in Love now 🦕💚 https://t.co/Ej7IgFiA4U pic.twitter.com/PSr9hd1sSW

— Spotify (@Spotify) January 31, 2020

We’re fans of Tom Rosenthal’s work. Watch It’s Watermelon Time.

Then enjoy these videos from Katy Wang and Hannah Jacobs:
• Forests by Tom Rosenthal
• The Eclipse That Made Einstein Famous
• The Uses of Envy

Bonus: Did an asteroid kill the dinosaurs?