One of the most satisfying things for me about running the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival for the past 15 years has been watching the progress of young filmmakers over time. One of the most spectacular examples of this is Eian-Gabriel Sinclair of Rochester, New York.

I first received a 90-Second Newbery movie from Eian in 2016, when he was nine years old. The movie was of Allison McGhee’s Firefly Hollow—which actually isn’t a Newbery book, but whatever! Almost every year since, Eian has submitted a new stop-motion or animated movie to the 90-Second Newbery. And every year, they’re more and more impressive!

After the 90-Second Newbery screening in Rochester earlier this month, Carol White Llewelyn of Communivision Studio interviewed Eian about his experiences with the 90-Second Newbery. Carol did a fantastic job, and Eian came across really well. Check out the interview above!

A fun fact: I wrote Eian a letter of recommendation when he applied to the Rochester Institute of Technology at fourteen years old. Eian is now 18 years old, and a college graduate from RIT . . . summa cum laude!

To recognize Eian’s splendid work from throughout the years, I gathered all his videos for the 90-Second Newbery in one place. He really is an incredible talent. Enjoy!

Eian’s latest entry from 2025—mentioned in the interview above—was based on Russell Freedman’s 1988 Newbery Medal Winner Lincoln: A Photobiography. I always encourage 90-Second Newbery filmmakers to put a twist on the original material, and here Lincoln himself ably makes the case that Rochesterian Frederick Douglass deserves to be on Mount Rushmore:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I loved the painstaking, ingenious way that this movie makes the Presidents squabble and interact—Eian-Gabriel’s clay faces are better actors than some professionals I could name! (At times they remind me of Statler and Waldorf, the two old hecklers in the balcony on The Muppet Show.) Great voiceover performances really seal the deal.”

In 2024, Eian adapted Katherine Applegate’s 2013 Newbery Medal Winner The One and Only Ivan in the style of the movie King Kong:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Entertaining and adroit . . . The background music and voiceover narration were artful and felt period-specific, as well as the black-and-white cinematography. I thought it was clever how it swapped out the roaring lion in the iconic Twentieth Century Fox logo for a fluidly animated Ivan the gorilla.”

In 2021, Eian adapted Hugh Lofting’s 1923 Newbery Medal Winner The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle:

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I love the attention to detail in this movie: the spot-on olde-tymey news bulletin fanfare, the lifelike way the dog’s tail wags (and then the dog adjusts the radio with its paw—very Gromit-esque!), the fluid camera work as the shot drifts from the dog to Doctor Dolittle himself . . . I was charmed and nostalgic when he brought out the clay figurines from his previous entries to the 90-Second Newbery—I’m glad to see those old friends, even though time has not been kind to them (‘They’re cute little zombies, aren’t they?’ quips Dolittle as one of their heads falls off).”

In 2020, Eian adapted Wanda Gag’s 1929 Newbery Honor Book Millions of Cats into “Millions of Blob Monsters”!

As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “The blob monsters were so cute and fun to watch. I particularly liked when, at the climax, they were devouring each other and canceling each other out! But of course the funniest part was when the blob monster ate the candle, and then ate the old man and the old woman . . . and then the old couple revolted against that ending, and forced it into an ending they preferred!”

In 2019, Eian adapted Arnold Lobel’s 1973 Newbery Honor Book Frog and Toad Together in a “medieval times” style:

The judges said in part (complete review here): “From the very beginning this movie inspires confidence, with the beautifully drawn titles that even feature animated singing mouths . . . You can really feel the frustration of Toad as he jumps up and down, desperately sings, and flies into a tantrum when the plant won’t grow quickly enough for him. The voice acting is also amazing . . . especially the behind-the-scenes bit at the end, where Frog complains about not getting enough lines — hilarious!”

In 2018, Eian adapted William Steig’s 1983 Newbery Honor Book Doctor DeSoto:

As the judges said (full review here), “I was blown away by the painstakingly elaborate illustrations throughout . . . The fox is particularly impressively animated, with so many fun-to-watch sequences, like when he’s scooting on his knees to beg to Dr. DeSoto, or licking his chops in anticipation of a meal, or when his jaw trembles when he can’t open his mouth. The script is tight and tells the story accurately and wittily: ‘I’ve been outfoxed by a mouse!’ I was also impressed by how all of the original music was composed and played by Eian.”

In 2017, Eian adapted Richard and Florence Atwater’s 1939 Newbery Honor Book Mr. Popper’s Penguins:

As the judges wrote in part, “A tour de force! This movie was amazingly well-drawn and cleverly animated . . . Tight script, expressive voiceover, and the music was charming.” Read the full review here.

In 2016, Eian adapted Matt de la Pena’s 2016 Medal Winner Last Stop on Market Street:

So says the 90-Second Newbery blog: “The clay figures were impressive, full of intimate character and detail, and animated with lifelike subtlety (the toe-tapping during the music, the wriggling of the dog, the little smile on the guitar player when people clap for him)!”

And here is the movie that started it all, based on Alison McGhee’s (non-Newbery-winning) Firefly Hollow:

I loved the charming and painstaking stop-motion animation with the beautifully-crafted clay figures. And the original music was quite well-done too! Even though this was his first movie that Eian made when he was nine, you can see the seeds of future greatness.

What an incredible run! The 90-Second Newbery has been lucky to have Eian-Gabriel Sinclair making movies for us for nearly the past decade. I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do in his career going forward! I expect great things.

Thank you, Eian, for all the great movies and memories!

And I will always cherish this caricature than Eian made of me in 2019: