19-02-2025
New Hampshire man wants his movie to be the state's official animated film: Watch here
Goffstown native Griffin Hansen has created a film he hopes can become New Hampshire's official state animated film.
Called 'Within Crystal Hills,' the movie is a love story that paints a picture of how the Old Man of the Mountain might have come to be. First observed in 1805, the natural rock structure that looked like a profile of a face has long been an iconic state symbol, featured on stamps, coins, and highway signs. However, it fell in 2003.
Rep. Joe Alexander, R-Goffstown, is the prime sponsor of HB 89, the bill that would designate the movie New Hampshire's official animated film. He said that it would teach young kids about the meaning behind the symbol of the Old Man on the Mountain.
'As somebody who grew up in New Hampshire, I was, I think, seven or eight years old when the Old Man fell,' Alexander said. 'I think this is a very creative way to depict the story around the creation, a story around the creation of the Old Man that can be marketed towards young people so that they can feel like they are part of the culture and creation of our most important symbol of the scene.'
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Hansen's nine-minute film, done in shadow puppet-like animation, follows an iron worker named Sawyer as he enters into a dangerous cave in the White Mountains to find a precious diamond for the girl he loves.
The film was produced and co-written by Christina K. Caralis.
Alexander said the short film reflects Granite State values like perseverance, hard work, and the lack of greed, and Hansen said making it the state movie would inspire artists like him in New Hampshire.
However, the state Native American Commission spoke against the film, saying the film erases indigenous narratives about the White Mountains.
In an executive session after the bill hearing, legislators unanimously voted the bill 'inexpediate to legislate,' meaning that they do not support the bill's passage.
'I think this is a wonderful, beautifully done story,' said Rep. Erica Layon, R-Derry, commending Hansen for his work. 'I'm just very concerned that if we have this as a state animated film, a lot of people are going to see this as the history when it's one interpretation, and we have long standing traditions through the Abenakis, and I would not want to erase that history by promoting this to be our state animated film.'
It will go to the New Hampshire House floor under the consent calendar, meaning it is likely to be killed there.
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No other states have official state films, animated or not.
However, some states have tried to designate an official film before. In 2023, state legislators in Oregon unsuccessfully filed a resolution calling for 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' to be made the state's official film because the film was shot almost entirely in Oregon.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: This short movie proposed to become NH's official animated film: Watch
