Hello Maggie is based on a true story by Shigeru Yabu. A great story about the love and friendship between a little boy, Shig, and a bird he named Maggie. The family’s survival under difficult circumstances in a Second World War Japanese Internment Camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming.

At its core, Hello Maggie reflects Tony’s belief that art offers meaning shaped by the experiences and perspectives we bring to it. While he cannot fully grasp what the story might mean to descendants of Japanese Americans incarcerated at Heart Mountain, he hopes the film resonates universally through its central message of identity, loss, and injustice: that even in times of hardship and despair, hope, friendship, and love endure. Through the innocent bond between a boy and a bird, the film affirms that while loss is inevitable, those we cherish remain with us through memory. Ultimately, Hello Maggie is a meditation on remembrance and the beauty of human resilience and interspecies connection through traumatic events.

Director Biography - Tony Tarantini



Tony Tarantini is an accomplished artist-filmmaker, educator, and researcher whose career spans professional animation production, academic inquiry, and interdisciplinary creative practice. Born in Abruzzo Italy and holding dual citizenship, he is a self-described renaissance man driven by insatiable curiosity. Tarantini has seamlessly blended his passion for creation with teaching and scholarship, using research to deepen his understanding of the attitudes, skills, and behaviors that fuel creative and intellectual pursuits.

Born from a foundation in fine arts and design, Tarantini earned a four-year diploma in Communication & Design from the Ontario College of Art & Design (1985), two years of study in Florence, a Bachelor of Design (2006) and an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Animation Studies) from York University (2011), where his dissertation on the impact of digital technology on Toronto’s animation community was passed with distinction.

With over two decades of industry experience (1986–2010), Tarantini worked extensively in animation as a layout & storyboard artist, supervisor, designer, assistant director, and project manager on award-winning series such as Little Bear, Rupert, Babar, George Shrinks, Franklin the Turtle, and The Magic School Bus, as well as short films - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1061372/. He also provided training and consulting for studios, including Nelvana and its subcontractors.

Since 2000, Tarantini has been a cornerstone of Sheridan College’s renowned Bachelor of Animation program, progressing from partial-load to full-time professor (2010–2024) and serving as Third-Year Production Supervisor and Industry Day Coordinator. He has designed and delivered key courses in layout, art direction, storyboarding, and production management, while mentoring countless student films—several of which garnered awards. Beyond Sheridan, he has taught at institutions including Accademia Nemo (Florence), Max the Mutt Animation School, and the Art Institute of Toronto, and led intensive international workshops in Italy, India, and China.

As a filmmaker, Tarantini has directed animated shorts and documentaries, often in collaboration with top industry talent. Notable works include the 2025 short animated film Hello Maggie (produced by Willie Ito and the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation) and a series of co-directed projects at Nemo Academy, with former Disney artists such as Sandro Cleuzo, John Nevarez, Tom Bancroft, and John Pomeroy - Life a great Adventure (2017), Yujo (2018), Wish (2019).

His research bridges practice and theory within the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in animation. Tony has presented widely at international conferences, chaired the 2014 SAS conference in Toronto, and contributed to animation curriculum innovation at Sheridan. Projects include field research at various Greater Toronto Area (GTA) studios, the conceptual “Anivator” platform for accessible animation collaboration, and a 2012 documentary on digital technology’s influence on Toronto’s animation community. He has also secured funding, including an NSERC research grant, and served on the Sheridan College Senate and committees.

Tarantini continues to organize industry events, and foster global partnerships that enrich animation education and production. His work reflects a lifelong commitment to nurturing resilient, versatile creators capable of thriving across disciplines in an ever-evolving digital landscape.