Eva Szasz

Cosmic Zoom

Eva Szasz, Robert Verrall

This short animation transports us from the farthest conceivable point of the universe to the tiniest particle of existence, an atom of a living human cell. The art of animation and animation camera achieve this exhilarating journey with a freshness and clarity. Without words.

Canada Vignettes: Onions and Garlic: A Hebrew Fable

Eva Szasz

Gail Garfinkle

This animated short tells a humourous Hebrew folk tale about a man's venture to introduce onions to a far away kingdom and a disreputable man's attempt to exploit that.

The Trout That Stole the Rainbow

Eva Szasz

The vibrant images of this beautifully illustrated animation film will captivate all audiences, and will be particularly useful in the classroom to teachers of art and language arts. In this original fable the world loses its colours when a trout, obsessed by the beauty of the rainbow, steals it from the sky.

Canada Vignettes: Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary

Eva Szasz

Walter Massey

There's a "silver lining in every cloud" as Donald O'Neary turns every misfortune his two neighbours can engineer into gold coins. Against the background of the Irish countryside, the customary "rich but dumb" characters meet their match in the "poor but crafty" hero. The story introduces the student to our rich multicultural background through the exploration of folklore of one of the peoples that make up Canada's cultural mosaic.

Raven's Feather Dance - A Creation Legend

Eva Szasz

When humankind is wiped out by a cosmic disaster, Raven sets out to right this wrong by finding out from the other animals how to re-create the human race. After a lot of song and dance, Raven and Coyote manage to bring to life a nice batch of people. Unfortunately, in the crowded moment of re-creation, there is an outbreak of hostilities. But Raven and Coyote haven't gone to all this trouble only to see things go wrong, and they succeed in repopulating the four corners of the Earth. An animated film based on native legends.

Halloween According to Old Weird Harold

Eva Szasz

The "local boogeyman" tells stories of Halloween as it used to be in rural Ontario.

Homesteading on the Prairies

Eva Szasz

Set in Manitoba in the 1890s, the story traces an Ontario farm family as they move west in search of cheap land. They experience travel on the recently completed CPR, build a sod house, battle a prairie fire and celebrate their first harvest.

The Mare's Egg

Eva Szasz

A pioneer's life may be a hard one, but there's no doubt that a little optimism goes a long way. Confused by advice on what to avoid when buying a horse, our gullible settler is fooled into buying a "mare's egg"--to hatch his own colt! After weeks without success, he tosses the "egg" into the bushes--with hare-raising results! But as he chases after the "hatched colt," he remembers the advice: big ears--stubborn; big teeth--a biter; low in the hindquarters--a runaway for sure. Well, maybe he's better off without this one, and off he goes on his optimistic way--with plans to save up and buy another egg! Adapted from a story by Carole Spray.

Has Anybody Seen My Umbrella?

Eva Szasz

The story of a prince who leaves school after his grade one graduation thinking he knows all there is to be happy. When he has grown up he meets Cinderella at his birthday party ball, but when she loses her glass slipper he cannot read her name on it. Thinking her name is "Umbrella" he searches far and wide shouting "Has anybody seen my Umbrella". After timely intervention of the prince's fairy godmother they are united. They get married and spend their honeymoon in grade two. Based on the popular children's book Has Anybody Seen My Umbrella by Max Ferguson.

Henry Settles in Upper Canada

Eva Szasz

After a long, hard ocean voyage across the Atlantic, twelve-year-old Henry and his mother arrive in Upper Canada. Uncle Ned meets them and takes them to rest up. Homesick, Henry takes a turn around the village and discovers what village life is like in a well-established farming community. He soon settles in and brings some good news to his mother.

Canada Vignettes: Melvin Arbuckle, Famous Canadian

Eva Szasz

W.O. Mitchell recounts Newton's Law of Falling Backhouses, a story based on the youthful pranks of his prairie childhood.