An Animator’s Cartoon Exit Strategy

John Kelly’s animated short, “Retirement Plan,” has been making the festival rounds for good reason. On its surface, the film is a simple premise: a man named Ray (voiced by actor Domhnall Gleeson) imagines all the things he’ll finally accomplish once he retires. But as the list grows longer and stranger, the film quietly shifts from comedy to something far more reflective.

Where did the idea for “Retirement Plan” come from? Kelly recently told Animation Magazine, “My mid-life crisis is making a short about someone having a mid-life crisis!”

Kelly, and co-writer Tara Lawall, built the entire piece around dialogue, with a rhythm that feels almost hypnotic. The result is a short film that’s funny, warm, and quietly unsettling -- a reminder that time isn’t something we get back, and that the future we imagine rarely arrives in the way we expect.

Filmmaker Kelly lives and works in Dublin, Ireland. “Retirement Plan” premiered at the 2024 Galway Film Fleadh and has since gained significant attention at film festivals around the world. It is shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Awards and was released online by The New Yorker.

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