Professor Dean Lennert was interviewed for ASIFA East (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) by Doug Vitarelli. Vitarelli talks to Lennert about "Dear Anna Olson," a film started by Lennert in 1989. The inspiration for the project actually goes back to 1987 when Lennert found a note tied to a balloon caught up in a tree. The note said, “My name is Anna Olson” it included the mailing address of the nursing home where she was a resident and ended with “Please Write to me.”
He did write to her and sent holiday cards for that first year but never received a reply. Lennert found out later that it wasn’t uncommon for nursing homes to send out notes tied to balloons for residents who didn’t have family or at least didn’t have family who visited with any regularity.