The Speaking Fish is a hand-drawn animated short film commissioned by Posttheatre (Berlin | New York | Tokyo) as part of the interdisciplinary performance project I in Wonderland.
Within the larger theatrical production, this animation functions as a self-contained narrative chapter, bridging live performance and animation-led storytelling to contribute to an immersive journey conceived by Hiroko Tanahashi and Max Schumacher for young audiences and their accompanying adults.
The story highlights marine species at risk of extinction and raises awareness about ecological empathy through dream-like animated storytelling and the expressive power of theatre performance.
As director and lead artist of The Speaking Fish chapter, I was responsible for translating Hiroko’s story into a fully realized visual narrative — overseeing the project from character adaptation and storyboard development to full animation production and post-production, while ensuring seamless integration within the live performance.
Highlights
Establishing Shot
Mr. Chips Wears His Fish Costume
Mr. Chips Meets Skip
The River Is Connected to the Ocean
Skip Can’t Breathe Out of the Water
Do Real Fish Still Exist?
Character Adaptation
Original Vector Character Design (Still From Video)
Character Adaptation For Hand Drawn Animation
Character Adaptation For Hand Drawn Animation
Style Frames
Storyboard
Credits
Traditional 2D hand-drawn animation and digital painting techniques.
Storyboarding, visual development, animation, digital painting, compositing and editing by Silvia Sardellaro. Painted sets (acrylic on canvas) Andreas Fischbach || Sound design and music Sibin Vassilev. The Speaking Fish is part of the project "I in Wonderland"by Posttheatre (Berlin | New York | Tokyo).
Presented at Theaterdiscounter Berlin (2015, 2016, 2020), Children’s Biennale Singapore (2017), International Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart (2014), and premiered at Alte Bibliothek im Wilhelmspalais Stuttgart (2012).
