Jannik Hastrup


Jannik Hastrup is a Danish writer, director, producer, illustrator and animator. He is considered "Denmark's grand master of animation", as he is particularly well known for directing, animating and writing several animated films, occasionally with Flemming Quist Møller, including Benny's Bathtub, Dreaming of Paradise, Samson & Sally, War of the Birds, The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear and A Tale of Two Mozzies. He also directed, wrote and animated a number of shorts following Cirkeline the elf.

Politics

Jannik Hastrup was involved in films with socialist and social realism themes. One of them is the Cirkeline short film Flugten fra Amerika, which portrays a racist and poverty-filled New York City, followed by the Statue of Liberty with Richard Nixon's face and a rifle held above, and sympathetic portrayals of the Black Panther Party and a Native American tribe. The film was political enough that the public Danish Broadcasting Corporation refused to air it. Other works with political messages include Historiebogen and Trællene.

Feature films