Life, Animated : A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism

UNDERSTANDING LIFE THROUGH A WORLD OF PURE IMAGINATION

 

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind tells the story of how his autistic son was able to regain the ability to speak through the medium of Disney animated films.

 

Imagine being trapped inside a Disney movie and having to learn about life mostly from animated characters dancing across a screen of colour. A fantasy? A nightmare? This is the real-life story of Owen Suskind, the son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind and his wife, Cornelia. 

 

An autistic boy who couldn't speak for years, Owen memorised dozens of Disney movies, turned them into a language to express love and loss, kinship and brotherhood. The family was forced to become animated characters, communicating with him in Disney dialogue and song; until they all emerged, together, revealing how, in darkness, we all need stories to survive.