Grant Munro

Boo Hoo

Grant Munro

A cemetery in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada is seen through the eyes of its former superintendent.

Neighbours

Norman McLaren

Grant Munro, Jean Paul Ladouceur

In this Oscar-winning short film, Norman McLaren employs the principles normally used to put drawings or puppets into motion to animate live actors. The story is a parable about two people who come to blows over the possession of a flower.

The Animal Movie

Rob Tunis, Grant Munro

An animated cartoon to help children explore why and how animals move as they do. A little boy discovers that he cannot compete with a monkey, a snake or a horse by imitating the way they move. He can only outdistance them when he climbs into a vehicle that can travel in any environment, proving that while other animals are trapped by their environment, humans, the inventors, aren't.

Toys

Grant Munro

Window shopping children watch as toy soldiers come to life and fight a war with all its unvarnished ferocity and horror.

The Eye Hears, the Ear Sees

Gavin Millar

Norman McLaren, Gavin Millar

The career of Scots-Canadian animation innovator, Norman McLaren.

Where There's Smoke

Wolf Koenig, Kaj Pindal

A compilation of satirical anti-smoking clips.

The Energy Carol

Les Drew

Grant Munro, George Geertsen

An unconventional version of The Christmas Carol.

Canon

Norman McLaren, Grant Munro

Perhaps the only film whose content is totally based on the musical form known as canon. The first sequence is a simple demonstration of the canon "Frere Jacques" where four cubes dance and combine with one another on a checkerboard. The second sequence show four little human-like figures dancing in space. The third and most elaborate sequence shows a human going through several strange gesticulations. Through multiple printing we realize that the man, as in the previous sequences, is part of a visual canon and is making the gestures to himself. As we hear variations on the canonic theme so too do we witness visual variations: a woman and cat enters the canon. To show the musical technique of inversion, the image of the man is printed upside down.

Pin Screen

Norman McLaren

Alexander Alexeieff, Claire Parker

Pinscreen animation makes use of a screen filled with movable pins, which can be moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the side so that the pins cast shadows.

On the Farm

Norman McLaren

Grant Munro, Norman McLaren

Stop-motion, pixillation and other trick photography methods are used to depict situations on a farm.

Six and Seven-Eighths

Norman McLaren

Grant Munro

Grant Munro dances to New Orleans jazz music.

Two Bagatelles

Norman McLaren, Grant Munro

Grant Munro

Norman McLaren instructs Grant Munro on the movements he is to make. The film technique for Two Bagatelles is pixillation, where the actor is animated frame by frame, as in the film Neighbours/Voisins.

McLaren on McLaren

Grant Munro

Norman McLaren

An opening address, a tribute and highlights of a long and productive career--McLaren on McLaren is Norman McLaren on camera. The occasion is the opening of a prestigious festival in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in November, 1983, marking the tenth anniversary of Holland Animation. The renowned animator pays homage to those who merged their arts with his, and to the National Film Board, which gave him forty-two years of artistic freedom.

The Ballot-o-Maniac

Stanley Jackson

Grant Munro

An enthusiastic but naive campaign worker causes trouble for his candidate due to his unorthodox campaign tactics, which turn out to violate the election law.

Christmas Cracker

Jeff Hale, Norman McLaren

Grant Munro

Three separate sequences related to Christmas, animated in different styles: cutout animation of children dancing in the snow to "Jingle Bells," stop-motion animation of toys come to life, and cel animation of a man who seeks the ideal star to top his Christmas tree.

Ashes of Doom

Grant Munro

Grant Munro, Nadia Salnick

A chain-smoking woman has an encounter with a vampire.