Women's History Month: Female filmmakers animate the story of 3 'Rosie the Riveter' WWII heroes

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - An all-female team of filmmakers set out to shine a spotlight on a trio of heroic women by creating an animated short.

Frame by frame, inch by inch, the stories of three "Rosie the Riveters" are brought to life in an unconventional way, reports CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas.

"The Girl With The Rivet Gun" is an animated documentary that recognizes three unsung female heroes of World War II: Esther Horne, Susan Taylor King and Mildred Crow Sargent.

"We were hearing these incredibly complicated stories, sort of wonderful stories, about gender inequality paid inequality, race relations, in this way that we had never heard before and so we wanted to tell the stories," said director/producer Anne de Mare.

All of that is explained in the 15-minute film created by an all-female team.

The animation is just as unique as the stories behind it.

"I make a wire armature first, then put the cardboard around it so I can move the puppets frame by frame," said animation director Danielle Ash.

The puppets, made entirely of recycled materials, are moved ever so slightly to create the appearance of motion.

"It's just a matter of having a real gentle touch so that you can step back, move it, step out again, click the camera," said Ash.

"There was something about Danielle's work and the maker aspect of it," said director/producer Kirsten Kelly. "You're creating this with your own hands and that spoke to us artistically in terms of the Rosie's themselves."

The figures breathe new life into the women's stories, emphasizing that there's more than one face behind the famous "We Can Do It" poster girl.

The award-winning piece premiered earlier this Women's History Month during a film festival. For more information, see www.thegirlwiththerivetgun.com.