DOTTIE: THE LITTLE GIRL WITH THE BIG VOICE

Storytime: Synopsis

Dottie Atherton is a five-year-old who seems quite ordinary except she does have a very special power: she is able to positively impact the world around her using her "quite large, very giant and incredibly humongous" VOICE. Using humor and thought-provoking circumstances, Dottie's story encourages children to speak up for what they believe in, and reminds each of us that we can make a difference in our world when we reach out with caring and tolerance.

Other Factoids:

Dottie: The Little Girl with the Big Voice is based on the short story Dori: The Little Girl with the Big Voice by Dawn Westlake (c.1993). And, yes, some of the situations are autobiographical…Dawn was thrown out of The Art Institute in Chicago, IL when she was two for "appreciating art too loudly". However, she has never exploded a tomato…yet.

The score: "Why that old ragtime music?": Popular at the turn of the 20th century, ragtime was the first 100% African-American musical contribution to popular culture. It’s hard to imagine a world without its syncopated rhythms and improvisational style, but before ragtime, the world listened mostly to militaristic marches and/or religious hymns. Ragtime was chosen because the producer feels it is the best representation of how "speaking out musically" can change the world, too…words are just language’s ordering of the inner notes and rhythms of our soul.

Production locations: Orlando, FL (animation) and Los Angeles (voice recording) & Burbank, CA (final sound mix and credit sequence)

Software used: Macromedia Flash, Sonic Foundry’s Vegas Video and Sound Forge programs, and Maya (Ron de Caña Productions, Inc., opening logo)

Hardware used: PCs and the Canon GL-1 (for mini-dv rendering)

Total running time: 11:01

Production dates: January 2-June 27, 2002