Making animated science films for kids with or without autism

Dr Rina Fu's cartoon series helps bring the world of science, technology and art to ALL students.

‘There needs to be a better understanding between the arts world and the science world,’ says Dr Rina Fu. ‘We need to stop siloing the arts and the sciences in schools and put the ‘A’ back in STEM and make it STEAM.’

Fu is doing her best to bridge that gap. She’s speaking to ArtsHub on the phone from Red Bird Creative, the little Perth animation studio where she’s been putting in overtime, drawing a character with a team of neurodivergent artists, together with Red Bird’s creative director Aaron Welch. They’re making Scab, their second MicroToons animated short film, explaining microbial processes via fun, dialogue-free graphics. Scab is the hotly anticipated sequel to the award-winning Pimple.

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Rochelle Siemienowicz is Screen Content Lead at Screenhub. She is a writer, film critic and cultural commentator with a PhD in Australian cinema and was the co-host of Australia's longest-running film podcast 'Hell is for Hyphenates'. Rochelle has written a memoir, Fallen, published by Affirm Press. Her second book, Double Happiness, a novel, is out with Midnight Sun on October 1, 2024. Instagram: @Rochelle_Rochelle Twitter: @Milan2Pinsk