Best of the Best - Especially for Kids (2000)

The collection includes:

The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend (1974)
Director: Caroline Leaf
Runtime: 8 min
Country: Canada
Language: Inuktitut


In this Inuit legend an owl marries a goose. They have off-spring, but somehow their habits of life are not compatible. Caroline Leaf has done some exceptional work and this is one of her best using the unusual technique of sand animation. An adaptation of a fable, this is an example of what animation can do. Enjoyable for children and adults alike. Most recommended.

Awards

BAFTA Awards
1976 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Animated Film

Ottawa International Animation Festival
1976 Won OIAF Award Films for Children

Blackfly (1991)
Director: Christopher Hinton
Runtime: 5 min
Country: Canada
Language: English


This animated film about the pesky blackfly is based on the song of the same title, written and sung by Canadian folk singer Wade Hemsworth, with back-up vocals by the McGarrigle sisters. It recounts Hemsworth's battles with this quintessential "critter" during a summer of surveying in Northern Ontario.

Awards:
Academy Awards, USA
1992 Nominated Oscar Best Short Film, Animated

Genie Awards
1992 Nominated Genie Best Animated Short Film

The Cat Came Back (1988)
Director: Christopher Hinton
Runtime: 7 min
Country: Canada
Language: English


Animated illustration of the folksong, "The Cat Came Back," sung by a quartet. Old Mr. Johnson, at 80-plus years, sits in his bed sit playing his tuba when someone leaves a small yellow cat on his doorstep. The cat is destructive, so Old Mr. Johnson puts it back on the doorstep. The cat comes back through the mail slot. Then Johnson tries the woods, the sea, a helium balloon, and a scenic railway. Each time, Old Mr. Johnson takes the brunt of the adventure and the cat returns more destructive than before. Finally it's time for dynamite.
Nine lives anyone? Mee-ouch

I remember watching this on Nickelodeon when I was little, I laughed, and I sang along when they got to the chorus. I had almost forgotten about it until Cartoon Network was airing the 100 Greatest Cartoons of All Time, and this cartoon made it on the list. I fell in love with it all over again! it just never gets old and is certainly worth at least one look…make that two looks.

Awards:
Academy Awards, USA
1989 Nominated Oscar Best Short Film, Animated

Genie Awards
1989 Won Genie Best Animated Short Film

1989 World Animation Celebration
1989 Won WAC Winner First Work for Public Exhibition

Every Child (1979)
Director: Eugene Fedorenko
Runtime: 6 min
Country: Canada
Language: English | French


Watch Eugene Fedorenko's animated short about an unwanted baby who is passed from house to house until he is taken in and cared for by two homeless men. The film is the Canadian contribution to an hour-long feature film celebrating the Year of the Child. It illustrates one of the ten principles of the Declaration of Children's Rights, that every child is entitled to a name and a nationality.

Academy Awards, USA
1980 Won Oscar Best Short Film, Animated

Genie Awards
1980 Won Genie Outstanding Animation

Ottawa International Animation Festival
1980 Won OIAF Award First Films

Christmas Cracker (1962)
Director: Jeff Hale, Norman McLaren, Grant Munro, Gerald Potterton
Runtime: 9 min
Country: Canada
Language: English


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.

Awards:
Academy Awards, USA
1965 Nominated Oscar Best Short Subject, Cartoons

San Francisco International Film Festival
1964 Won Golden Gate Award Best Animated Short

The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin (1981)
Director: Janet Perlman
Runtime: 10 min
Country: Canada
Language: None


Cinderella has to stay home while her evil stepsisters go to the ball. You know the rest except everyone here is a penguin (even the mice that become the "horses") and the lost slipper is more like a swimming flipper. Carefully crafted by Canadian animators to be language neutral (i.e. no words are used at all, and credits are in both English and French), this is a very cute retelling of the Cinderella story with penguins playing all characters. Perfect for penguin lovers (like me) and active kids with short attention spans (it doesn't dawdle).

Awards:
Academy Awards, USA
1982 Nominated Oscar Best Short Film, Animated

Monsieur Pointu (1975)
Director: Andrй Leduc, Bernard Longprй
Runtime: 12 min
Country: Canada
Language: None


Monsieur Pointu, a virtuoso violinist, would like to play his fiddle. But the fiddle has other ideas and a royal battle ensues. Animated using the surreal technique of pixellation - a form of stop motion animation using the human body - this short is highly recommended for anyone who likes unusual animation.

Awards:
Academy Awards, USA
1976 Nominated Oscar Best Short Film, Animated

Cracow Film Festival
1976 Won Special Mention International Competition

Evolution (1971)
Director: Michael Mills.
Runtime: 11 min
Country: Canada
Language: French | English


Darwin himself would get a chuckle from this view of human evolution. That said, it is screamingly funny!! I found it delightful and a pleasure to watch!

Academy Awards, USA
1972 Nominated Oscar Best Short Subject, Animated Films

Cracow Film Festival
1972 Won FIPRESCI Prize - Special Mention

Le chвteau de sable aka The Sand Castle (1977)
Director: Co Hoedeman
Runtime: 13 min
Country: Canada
Language: None


On a sandy desert, a man made of sand constructs other sand creatures to help make a beautiful sand castle for themselves and then celebrate the completion of their new home, only to be interrupted by an uninvited guest. This is an absolutely marvellous animated short, with the most unusual cast of characters that I've seen in quite some time. It's also about as apt an example of the old line by Robert Burns, "The best laid plans of mice and men…" . The short is quite bittersweet in its ending. Very much worth more than one viewing. Most highly recommended.

Awards:
Academy Awards, USA
1978 Won Oscar Best Short Film, Animated

Annecy International Animated Film Festival
1977 Won Grand Prix

BAFTA Awards
1978 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Short Fictional Film



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