This chapter examines the work of documentary animator-filmmaker Jonas Odell. Co-founder of Swedish production company Filmtecknarna, Odell specialises in making films that blend live-action and various mixed-media animation techniques; he has also scripted, co-scripted and written the music to a number of other productions. In some of his more recent short films Odell has experimented with a mix of documentary, staged and animated elements. Among the works in question, Never Like the First Time! (2006) was awarded the Golden Bear for Best Short Film in the 2006 Berlin Film Festival; Lies (2008) was awarded the Best International Short prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival; Tussilago (2010) was widely selected for inclusion within an impressive range of international film festivals, including (significantly, for this chapter's purposes) the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival. Odell has also directed award-winning music videos for artists such as The Rolling Stones, Erasure, Goldfrapp, U2 and Franz Ferdinand. In 2016, he directed the animated documentary Jag Varen Vinnare (I Was a Winner), a film in which three people, presented in the physical appearance of their warrior avatars, speak about their experiences with gaming addiction. To date, this most recent short has already been selected for inclusion in the Tribeca Film Festival, Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Kortfilmfestivalen, Curtas Vila do Conde and Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Never Like the First Time!, Lies and Tussilago are generally considered to be animated documentaries. Many of the interlocking formal and thematic characteristics of these films explain why a significant proportion of Odell's recent creative output is generally considered to be animated documentary (see, for example, Sondhi 2010; Land 2014; Sjöberg 2015). Never Like the First Time!, Lies and Tussilago each proceed from collections of documentary interviews with individuals questioned on specific issues such as sex, lies and terrorism. These audio interviews, integrated into Odell's films in the form of voice-over, represent the foundations on which his animated documentary narratives are based. The cinematic styles, techniques and languages Odell uses package the stories he tells in such a way as to make them potentially more interesting and attractive to wide audiences.