In “Winter in a Day,” the power of friendship aims to melt the frostiest of hearts.

Directed by alumnus Liddy Salter, the animated short film was recently shown at the Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival. The story follows best friends Bear and Fox on the last day of autumn. With the help of some other woodland critters, Fox creates winter in a day so Bear can experience the season before she hibernates. Salter said she started making “Winter in a Day” last year during the transition from remote to in-person learning. Originally from Maine, she said she missed the snowfall in her hometown and wanted to recreate it through the film, setting the story in the woods by her parents’ house.

“I felt like I was a little homesick when I got to LA,” Salter said. “I felt like I was missing the Maine winter for hibernation in leaving Maine and going to LA, and I guess I was feeling a little down about it all the time.”

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To further evoke nostalgia, she said she chose to center her film around a bear and a fox, two animals that can be found in the woods near her home. In terms of character development, Bear and Fox were written as foils to one other, Salter said. Whereas Fox is outgoing and restless, she said Bear is more quiet and contemplative.

The contrast between the two characters is emphasized visually as well, Salter said. For example, the bright-orange pelted Fox is short, and the dark blue Bear is tall, she said. Ultimately, Salter said she hopes that the characters’ outward and inward differences demonstrate how even the most unlikely individuals can develop the strongest friendships.

Hand drawn and digitally painted, the short film is an ode to children’s literary works, she said. Wanting “Winter in a Day” to have the feel of a storybook, Salter said she took inspiration from stories such as “Winnie-the-Pooh” and “Blueberries for Sal.” In bringing her vision to life, she said she drew over a thousand frames and then edited the film together using Adobe Photoshop, After Effects and Premier.

“Animation is an extremely gratifying process,” Salter said. “It takes a lot to get little done, but once you get it done, it’s great getting to see something that you drew moving across a screen or page. … It’s really gratifying and awesome and a lot of work. And a lot of sleepless nights went into this film, but it was worth it.”

Since there is no dialogue in “Winter in a Day,” Salter said she relied on sound to keep audiences engaged. To accurately portray the cool winter atmosphere, Director of Sound Design Grant Cornish said he and the rest of his team experimented with various miscellaneous items amplified by a microphone. For example, he said he would tap a hammer against a block to recreate the chopping of wood. Additionally, Cornish used sand to stand in for snow and placed small items on it to audibly portray the animals’ footsteps, he said.

Cornish said he worked closely with composer Robby Good to ensure the sound stayed true to the beats of the story. A graduate student in the music composition program, Good said he looked at the short film’s storybook-esque animation style and wanted his musical score to complement it. Recalling cartoons from his childhood, such as “Kipper” and “The Berenstain Bears,” Good used synthesized violins and other string instruments to conjure feelings of warmth and comfort in audiences, he said.

“It was really easy because the film is about enjoying these specific situations, so I let the music just highlight the fact that these situations are fun and we’re having a good time,” Good said. “There’s no dialogue. It’s all music. I get to do whatever I want. I get to be the dialogue that isn’t there.”

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Although the target audience of “Winter in a Day” is children, Salter said she hopes adults can find something meaningful in it as well. At its core, she said the story is about friendship, selflessness and compassion. Furthermore, Cornish said he wishes that older audience members will think about their own relationships. The message of being kind without asking for anything in return is one that audiences can apply throughout their lives, Salter said.

“Something that’s really cool about children’s film, and children’s literature in general, is it can seem like a very simple layout of values, but it’s always the most important ones,” Salter said. “It’s something that I think everyone can get something out of.”