Matthew Thomas Gillespie

✏️ LEAKED: THE RESISTANCE STARTS ON THE DRAWING BOARD:

I wanted to officially introduce you to the newest members of the animal ensemble in the order they were conceived.

DOVE POPE: Exhausted, bewildered, and currently staring at a rotary phone like it’s a live grenade. Notice the "Panic" red button—he’s just one ring away from another "no thank you" to Trump's grand plan. 🕊️🇻🇦

CONSPIRACY CARL (The Raccoon): Always watching. Always recording. Carl’s tinfoil hat is specifically tuned to block out the "Fabrication Unit" signals. If there’s proof of a deepfake, he’s got it on his phone. 🦝📱

SGT. SLAPPY (The Beaver): Our sovereignty-obsessed bureaucrat in Red Serge. He’s got the big flat tail, the buck teeth, and enough paperwork to block a US tank. Currently holding the line at the "Reality Check" border post. 🦫🛡️

DENNIS (The Opossum): Our NATO-adjacent diplomat. Dennis is famous for his "Strategic Faint." In the wild, Opossums play dead as an involuntary stress response. For Dennis, it’s a political masterclass. When the White House calls with an ultimatum, Dennis just hits the floor until the crisis blows over. ☕️💤

STANLEY (The Moose): Perpetually confused in his home Leafs jersey. Stanley is the heart of the "Not Our War, Eh" movement, mostly because he’s still trying to figure out where the Strait of Hormuz actually is. 🫎🏒

👇 QUIZ: Which character represents your current vibe? Are you a "Dead Tired" Dennis or a "Sovereignty-Focused" Slappy? Which character do you want to see more of in future videos?

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4 days ago | [YT] | 34

Matthew Thomas Gillespie

🇨🇦 **One Year Anniversary of "51st State, No Way!"**
*The Story Behind the Clay/AI Hybrid*

*This is a long read, but it's from the heart.*

Exactly one year ago, I accidentally hit "publish" on the very first musical claymation video for this channel. It was an outburst. Dozy Don was on TV threatening my country and disrespecting our Prime Minister, and something in me just snapped.

My immediate reaction was panic. I wanted to delete it and fix every flaw. If you scrub to the end you can still see the credits get cut off by frames. I thought, "I'll pull it down tomorrow and no one will notice"...

I woke up to views climbing. They kept climbing. A month later it hit #1 million. Yikes!

Anyone who has worked with me knows I can be a bit of a perfectionist, but it always comes from a place of passion. Your comments poured in and reminded me why I fell in love with stop-motion in the first place: the charm is in the imperfection (kind of where AI was at too at that time). And more importantly, beyond the surface, there are layered messages. People wrote that the videos brought a smile when they needed it most, or helped them through dark times.

And these are certainly dark times.

Around the same period, a spinal injury left me unable to hunch over my animation table for long stretches. Medical diagnoses forced me to pause. A year ago, as mentioned, AI was barely usable, yet I turned to it to bridge the footage I'd already spent endless hours animating. Yes, with Dollarama clay, baby. Bags of it. No judgement :)

The use of AI as a tool, the very thing that threatens the career I've spent 20 years in, let me keep creating. I could either run from it, get threatened by it, get depressed by it, or learn it, while keeping my IP very close. Never once have I looked at this as a competition, despite seeing my characters getting blatantly ripped off by creators who shall remain nameless.

I guess this channel has always been about embracing imperfection. In the clay. In the current state of AI. In life. In our mental health. In the world around us. Behind the quirky singing characters, cobra chickens, and aviator beavers is someone who cares deeply about human and animal rights. My videos are never about left versus right or Liberal versus Conservative. They are simply about standing up for what is right and what is human.

Fast forward. While sketching characters for the next cartoon, not long after releasing "Operation: Hans Off", I read about twenty-six-year-old Erfan Soltani. Arrested on 8 January 2026 in Karaj, Iran, while protesting a severe economic crisis and government repression, he was denied a fair trial, charged with Moharebeh ("enmity against God"), and sentenced to death by hanging.

I could not stay silent. I wrote an urgent letter to my MP, Maggie Chi, and copied the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly. I asked Canada to use every diplomatic channel to demand his protection.

As I typed it, I thought, "Who the hell is going to respond to a nobody like me?"

But I am deeply grateful for the thoughtful reply I received from MP Maggie Chi, and for the strong stance taken by Minister Joly and the Government of Canada. For confidentiality I won't post their reply here, but let's just say it was at least four pages of active compassion. International pressure, including letters from ordinary people like myself who often feel like nobodies, led to Erfan's execution being postponed. On 1 February 2026 he was released on bail.

**He is safe today, and for now, because people refused to look away.

This is why I will always keep this channel exactly as it is: quirky, handmade, and far from perfect. But behind the cartoons, I will continue using my voice for those who need it most. And if I can have a voice, so can YOU.

To everyone who has been here since that messy first upload: truly, thank you. I have never bullied anyone to "like, subscribe, or comment", and I never will. This community grows because you choose to be here, organically. If this ain't your thing, or you're still googling who Rita MacNeil is, there are plenty of other creators out there doing this whole content thing way better than I am.

Everyone has a voice. Sometimes all it takes is one email, one comment, or one small act to remind those in power that we are watching, and that we care.

**What issue matters to you right now?** Drop it in the comments. I read every single one. Yes, even the ones daily reminding me that RBI owns Tim Hortons. I got it. I know it. Doesn't matter. There are line-ups everywhere for it, so it stays. It's inherent in our culture; it represents the spirit that Tim Horton himself intended. Canadians are such hypocrites when it comes to coffee: "Another version of the watery dark roast!" they shout and proclaim, only for a drive-through wait comparable to a Disneyland ride. Well, prior to the boycott, that is.

I remind myself daily: the moment I stop learning, stop growing, or stop staying humble, I have no business doing whatever the hell it is I'm doing.

Thank you for one full year of imperfection and impact. Get your voice out there, in whatever art form connects to you. Sketch. Draw. Sculpt. Write. Learn the latest tools and develop your own voice. If you're against AI, no problem, I respect that. My channel is a safe space. And for those against AI who still comment appreciating the work that went into these cartoons, thank you as well. Thank you to the fellow filmmakers who can, with a careful eye, see the real claymation in there.

This channel and these quirky videos are ***not*** anti-American. In fact, the opposite. Many of my friends and colleagues are American, and I'm with you at your side trying to call out the minute-by-minute ridiculousness that is running your country. Political satire has, since the times of ancient Greece, been designed to hold power accountable through humour. It is, itself, another tool that has existed for social commentary and criticism which is starting to be silenced these days...

**The point is, if I can be heard, so can you.**

— MG
xo

*P.S. I see the odd comment asking if I use AI to generate my lyrics. No. If they suck, that's on me. In fact, I dropped them into ChatGPT one day and it came back saying, "I don't understand any of this."

That's the only validation I needed. 🙂

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1 week ago | [YT] | 28

Matthew Thomas Gillespie

🚨 BREAKING: CANADIAN AIRSPACE UNDER SIEGE!

⏰ PREMIERES TOMORROW
Sunday, February 8th • 9:00 AM EST

WELCOME TO YOUR MANDATORY ONBOARDING

📋 The Situation Briefing:
The Gulfstream Gambit: President Trump threatened a 50% tariff on all Canadian aircraft and the "decertification" of Bombardier jets after claiming Canada "wrongfully, illegally" blocked U.S. Gulfstream G500, G600, G700, and G800 jets from certification.

The Real Story: The dispute centers on fuel icing system testing requirements - the FAA gave Gulfstream time-limited exemptions until end of 2026, but Transport Canada requires full testing completion. Trump claims Canada is "prohibiting" Gulfstream sales.

The Nuclear Option: Trump previously threatened a 100% general tariff on ALL Canadian goods if Ottawa moves forward with its recent trade deal with China (which reduced EV tariffs in exchange for lower taxes on Canadian canola and agricultural products).

Arctic Ambitions: Trump's National Security Strategy explicitly aims to "establish or expand access in strategically important locations" and "control key transit routes." The Northwest Passage—which Canada claims as internal waters but the U.S. considers an international strait—is squarely in the crosshairs.

Defense Failure: Due to a massive Rogers outage, national defense orders are delayed by 4 business days, leaving our skies vulnerable.

🎬 [ MEET YOUR CREW ➡️ IN PREPARATION FOR TAKE-OFF ]

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1 month ago | [YT] | 89

Matthew Thomas Gillespie

Headline: CLASSIFIED: Operation Hans Off! Log Update

New evidence has come to light regarding the latest mission. I've processed the surveillance frames and the truth is out there... or at least, it’s hovering right behind the whale and icebergs. Did anyone catch it?

I'm heading into uncharted territory for the next cartoon. Are you ready for some other-worldly help?

Keep your eyes on the skies (and the clay). More updates coming soon!

M

1 month ago | [YT] | 55

Matthew Thomas Gillespie

Headline: 🚨 CLASSIFIED FOOTAGE: The Greenland Invasion 🚨

I found the "Lost Chapter" of Operation: HANS OFF! and it changes everything.

While the Beavers were holding the line at Hans Island, Trump was making a move on Greenland. First he tried to buy them off. Then... he threatened to INVADE!

He thought he could bully the North. He didn't know we have a biological weapon that doesn't negotiate.

It is time to release the Cobra Chickens. 🦢☠️

Unleashed TONIGHT!

#CobraChicken #Greenland #Invasion #OperationHansOff

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1 month ago | [YT] | 151

Matthew Thomas Gillespie

Polite Mode: Officially OFF. 🚫🧤

YOU ASKED FOR THIS IN THE COMMENTS (FOR SOME REASON). 🫎☕

After months of you guys flooding the comments with "Merch when?", I finally gave in. The Nasty Canadians Shop is officially open.

And yes, to the person who asked if they can drink their morning double-double from a mug that literally says "NASTY" on it... now you can. It’s perfect for letting your co-workers know exactly what kind of vibe you're bringing to the Zoom call.

🎁 Apology Gift: Use code NASTY15 for 15% OFF. It’s the most polite way I can say "Thanks for the support."

More products to be released weekly.

🔗 Get Nasty Here: nastycanadians.store/

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 115

Matthew Thomas Gillespie

Here are a few pieces of concept art that led to Operation: HANS OFF! My vision of "Cobra Chicken" lol.

This is my way of processing the negative "noise" and turning mixed emotions into something tangible. For me, art isn't just about the final product. It's about the hours spent blocking out the negativity and building something a bit more hopeful (and a lot more musical). Thank you for being part of this crazy journey. It means the world to share this outlet with you all! xo

M

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3 months ago | [YT] | 177

Matthew Thomas Gillespie

Headline: 🚨 TOP SECRET BRIEFING: OPERATION HANS OFF!

The Beaver Army is officially out of the hangar and on the move. The elite squad has received a distress signal from Greenland.

The "Orange Man" is eyeing the ice, but he didn't count on the ultimate alliance: Canada, France, and Denmark. We’re swapping the schnapps for maple syrup and drawing a line in the snow.

DEPLOYMENT BEGINS: TONIGHT Stay tuned to the channel for the full tactical video. This is one 80s pop-rock defense you won't want to miss! 🦫🍁🇩🇰🇫🇷

#OperationHansOff #Canada #Greenland #WhiskeyWar

3 months ago | [YT] | 285

Matthew Thomas Gillespie

The Beaver Army is officially recruiting! 🇨🇦🦫 Which part of the defense are you joining? Vote below to claim your rank! 🇨🇦

3 months ago | [YT] | 54

Matthew Thomas Gillespie

"The Resistance starts today. 🦫 No more Mr. Nice Guy. #OperationSorryEh #Protest"

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3 months ago | [YT] | 100