Born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. John F. Weldon won prizes for his math skills in high school and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University in Montreal. He spent a year working as an actuarial trainee but, deciding he was more suited to comedy, gave up the insurance business in order to write and illustrate his own comic book. With that as his portfolio, he applied to the National Film Board in 1970. He started out as a painter and tracer in the Animation Studio and has since collaborated on over 50 films in addition to animating and directing eight of his own. Even his early works tended to be fables on mankind and modern life, such as SPINNOLIO (1977), a tale about a wooden puppet who goes far in "life" simply by doing nothing. In 1978, Weldon teamed up with Eunice Macaulay to direct SPECIAL DELIVERY, a black comedy which won an Oscar for best animated short. Despite their humour, Weldon's films tackle serious issues having to do with identity, ethics, and individual and social responsibility. Films such as REAL INSIDE (1984), a combination of animation and live action, TO BE (1990), for which he also wrote the music, and THE LUMP (1991) are sly digs that expose the foibles and pettiness of humanity. Weldon can also be an innovative and entertaining educator. His OF DICE AND MEN (1988) offers a witty introduction to the theory of probability, using animation done on a normal office computer. Weldon's animation relies heavily on drawing, often combined with other animation techniques or live-action footage. For THE LUMP, he used three-dimensional backgrounds along with a variety of cut-out techniques (scraps of different materials, cels on which he printed people's heads he had videotaped, scanned and distorted electronically and then photographed from the computer screen). It is a technical tour de force which adds aesthetic interest to an already powerful message.  Short Films (Animated Films) 1978: SPECIAL DELIVERY - Producer (w. Eunice Macaulay) 1 nomination, 1 Award