Gold Derby
The ‘Whale 52’ creative team reveals how they made an animated short with ‘real heart’
By Ethan Alter
June 6, 2026

The new animated short film “Whale 52” is inspired by two true stories. The first involves the titular aquatic mammal, commonly known as the planet’s loneliest whale as it traverses the oceans calling out a frequency that its compatriots can’t hear. The other is the story of Edward Jordon, a former teacher who dedicated his life to helping pupils, while also healing a hole in his own heart. Those narratives come together in the 10-minute short that finds a grieving teacher bonding with a young pupil whose own identity crisis has made them reluctant to speak lest they — like Whale 52 — also goes unheard.

Gold Derby spoke with the creative team behind “Whale 52” including legendary animator Bill Plympton, writer-director-producer Daniel Neiden, actor Bruce Vilanch and Jordon himself, who produced and wrote the animated short.

Gold Derby: Edward, the credits indicate that this film is based on a true story inspired by your life. Tell us a little bit about the real story that inspired the film.

Edward Jordon: In my life, I’ve been an educator, a filmmaker — a little bit of everything. A lot of the film is autobiographical based upon some magical moments of connections with students. Daniel and I have been friends for maybe a quarter of a century, and he knows so much about my history. He came to me and said, “Why don’t we make a movie? But our budget will only allow for 11 minutes and 14 seconds!” [Laughs]

But I think that’s also the power of short films; independent of their running time, they resonate with audiences, and we’re lucky in that regard. Audiences are really responding to this very true story about the loss of my own partner, whose picture is actually in the film. I thank Daniel, Bill, and the entire team for making that happen.

I’ve worked with many students who have had selective mutism, so the character of Enam is a composite of several people, including myself because I experienced some gender dysphoria as a child. I’m also the old man in the piece who makes this magical connection with a student and it’s one of those moments that teachers are sometimes lucky enough to have where a student stays in your mind and in your heart.

Daniel, what spoke to you about Edward’s story?

Daniel Neiden: Edward wrote the initial script about a boy who was selectively mute, and the script won awards at different festivals. At first, we were figuring out how to make it in live action, but I was working with Bill on some of his other movies and I told him the story. He really liked it, because a lot of his characters are isolated in some way and yearning for communication. And it makes sense that it’s animated. There’s little moments where you watch the film … that are in the Plympton style and to be able to use that movie magic [was wonderful].

Bruce, you’re a character in real life, but you’re also a terrific character in the film. What was it like voicing the role of the teacher, Kaufman?

Bruce Vilanch: You know, it was acting … and I don’t get asked to do that a lot when it’s not funny. It was a serious and emotional role. A lot of my work was just guttural; Daniel wanted me to sob, so I was making a lot of noises, which I usually do after a meal! [Laughs] But this time, I got to put them to work, so that was fun. And this movie touches on so many things, including gender identity and the loss [of a lover], which so many gay people experienced during the AIDS epidemic. So this story hit all of my buttons in such an elegant, simple and magical way.

Bill, what images came to your mind as you read Edward’s script?

Bill Plympton: I’ve worked with Daniel on a number of projects and they’re always very fun. When he came to me with this idea, I realized this was a much more different story than I usually do — no crazy surrealism, or bodies blowing up or anything like that. There’s a real heart to it, and I don’t usually make films that have heart! But this one was screaming at me.

I wanted to use a different style that I hadn’t used for a long time, one that was much more delicate, poetic, and kind of realistic, but also dreamlike. The other difference between this film and my usual films is I made it in about two months! Daniel kept pushing; he’s like the perfect director, because he pushes the artist to their limits and the film turned out to be brilliant. I thought, “Wow, what an interesting way to make movies! I should try it sometime.” [Laughs]

Daniel, it strikes me that “Enam” is an anagram for “Name,” which certainly speaks to the film’s theme of identity. What was the intention behind that name?

Neiden: Edward would say that it’s a name in Ghana where the boy is from, and where it’s as common a name as John. But that’s a good observation! It wasn’t lost on us.

Vilanch: We’re all Whale 52 at some point, just trying to find somebody who is on our wavelength and our frequency.

Bill, the film ends with a wonderful crescendo of sound and image. Tell me about animating that sequence in particular.

Plympton: That was one of Daniel’s brainstorms, and I liked it. I thought it was very therapeutic; it cleansed the atmosphere with this giant wave washing away all the bad things in your life. I love drawing action, so the whale was the most fun character for me to draw. We put him in some strange situations, like underneath a table, jumping out of a table — stuff like that. I really enjoyed that.

Bruce, what was it like to watch the film as you were voicing it? Did you ever find yourself forgetting your lines and just watching Bill’s imagery?

Vilanch: No, Daniel’s a pretty harsh mistress! [Laughs] He was always saying, “Stay on point,” so I would be grunting and groaning and he’d be explaining the tenor of the groan he wanted at that point. It was very technical and challenging, but also a lot of fun. And the score brilliantly matches what’s going on onscreen and gets me every time.

Daniel, can you speak to the score? It’s definitely a key part of the film.

Neiden: My daughter went to Oberlin, and she had a job setting up spaces for incoming artists. Two young men who were both born in China came in: Qiujiang Levi Lu, who is more of a beatbox singer and does the voice sounds in the movie, and Scott Li, who plays the electric violin. I sent them a rough cut of what we had and got a call right back. And just for a bit of trivia, the cellist, Zuill Bailey, is an old student of mine. He came into the studio with his cello in a backpack and then handed it to me and said, “By the way, that instrument is from the year 1700!”

Bill, you’ve had a long and illustrious career that started in earnest forty years ago with the 1985 short BoomTown. Watching it again, it’s amazing to me how contemporary it still feels.

Plympton: That was the first film I ever did. I didn’t direct it or produce it, but I did all the animation; it’s the film where I learned how to do animation. Without BoomTown, I probably wouldn’t be here today. When I was younger, I would have died to work for Disney, because that was the best animation in the world. But by the time I did BoomTown, the whole independent movement had started with Sundance and all that stuff, so I said, “Why work for Disney when I could be my own Disney?” Today, I’m certainly not as big as Walt, but I make the films I want, I pay for them myself and I’m independent, and that’s why I love animation.

Neiden: Bill, can you say what film you turned down at Disney?

Plympton: I’ve told this story many times, but after I got nominated for an Oscar [for 1987’s Your Face], Disney called me up and sent a lawyer to my office here in New York. He opened his briefcase and pulled out a big, fat contract that said, “Walt Disney offers you a million dollars to come and work for us.” Back then, a million dollars was a lot of money! I said, “Can I make my own weird films on this weekend?” And he said, “Yeah, but we’ll own it.” I didn’t like the idea of somebody taking over my imagination so I said no. Sometimes I think that’s the stupidest idea I ever had! But every morning when I get up and go to my drawing board, I draw whatever the hell I want and no one’s telling me, “No, you can’t draw that.” To me, that’s worth more than a million bucks.

Oh, and they offered me Aladdin. The wanted me to draw the Genie, the Robin Williams character, because he changed shape so much. He made a lot of weird changes, and they thought I was good at that. [Laughs]

Daniel, I noticed that “Whale 52” is dedicated to Everett Quinton, the late theater artist. What’s the meaning behind that dedication?

Neiden: I had spoken with Everett about “Whale 52” before he died suddenly in 2023. He read it, and knew exactly who the teacher was. We were very close and he was always an inspiration. There’s a point in the film where the teacher isn’t afraid to engage Enam and kind of wakes up that trust between them. That was totally Everett, and Bruce embodies it well. It’s every teacher’s dream to gain the trust of a pupil and Everett had that with his fellow actors. He was your best friend onstage; if you were in a reading with him, he was right there with you.

Vilanch: If you’ve seen [Cole Escola’s] Oh, Mary!, you’re seeing Everett Quinton; that seed he planted has grown years later into things we never thought could be done on Broadway. That’s Everett’s influence.

What have you most enjoyed hearing from audiences when they see the film?

Plympton: As someone who makes comedies, I’ve never seen or heard people talk about crying at the end of a film like they do with this film. It somehow delivers a knockout blow to your emotions, and you really get caught up in the lives of these people. I couldn’t do it on my own; I think only Daniel can do it. If I tried to make a sad film, people would start laughing, so I’m going to stick with comedy, I think.

Vilanch: The reaction hasn’t always been the same. They don’t know what they’re seeing as it unveils, and when the big reveal happens at the end, they’re just quite taken with it. They suddenly realize what the movie is actually about and what the connection between Kaufman and Enam is. That’s a pretty thrilling thing to happen in 10 minutes!

The post Whale 52 – How The Short Film Came Together first appeared on We Got Bruce!.