Dots
1940 · 2 min · ★ 6.2 · Animation
An experimental film in which both sound and visuals were created entirely by Norman McLaren drawing directly upon the film with ordinary pen and ink. The main title is in eight languages. Rereleased with multilingual titles in 1949.
Directed by Norman McLaren
Your Rating
Make it a double feature
1h 5m togetherBoth from Norman McLaren.
More from Norman McLarenSee all →
Daedalus · 2024Daedalus
★ 10.02024
MovieMusicMystery
"Fly too high and you will burn, go too low and you won't breathe." A 7 day vlog during the summer of 2023, a story of dreamers and drowners.
Neighbours · 1952Neighbours
★ 7.51952
MovieComedyAnimation
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.
Ballet Adagio · 1972Ballet Adagio
★ 7.11972
MovieMusic
A slow-motion study by Norman McLaren of the pas-de-deux adagio, one of the most exacting and difficult dances of classical ballet. A ballet originally choreographed by the Russian ballet master Asaf Messerer is performed for this film by the internationally known Canadian pair, David and Anna Marie Holmes, to the music of Albinoni’s Adagio. A film to heighten the aesthetic appreciation of classical ballet and to afford observation of the technique and mechanics of the adagio movements.
Opening Speech · 1969Opening Speech
★ 7.01969
MovieAnimationComedy
Norman McLaren attempts to give the opening speech for the first Montreal International Film Festival, but his microphone won't cooperate.
Begone Dull Care · 1949Begone Dull Care
★ 7.01949
MovieAnimationMusic
In this extraordinary short animation, Evelyn Lambart and Norman McLaren painted colours, shapes, and transformations directly onto their filmstrip. The result is a vivid interpretation, in fluid lines and colour, of jazz music played by the Oscar Peterson Trio.
Chants populaires nº 5 · 1943Chants populaires nº 5
★ 7.01943
MovieAnimationMusic
Alexandre Alexeïeff illustrated the song "Et moi je m'enfouiyais" (En passant) using the pinscreen technique. Norman McLaren illustrated "C'est l'aviron" using drawings on a fixed background, with the characters pasted in as they were drawn.
Synchromy · 1971Synchromy
★ 6.81971
MovieAnimation
The film's soundtrack is an original musical composition produced with synthetic sound - through photographing unusual geometric shapes and running them through an optical sound head. The images are an artistic rendering of this soundtrack.
Pas de Deux · 1968Pas de Deux
★ 6.71968
MovieMusicDrama
Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal after-image visuals.
Around Is Around · 1951Around Is Around
★ 6.51951
MovieAnimation
Early abstract 3D film by animation master Norman McLaren and collaborator Evelyn Lambart.
Blinkity Blank · 1955Blinkity Blank
★ 6.41955
MovieAnimationMusic
A playful exercise in intermittent animation and spasmodic imagery. Playing with the laws relating to persistence of vision and after-image on the retina of the eye, McLaren engraves pictures on blank film creating vivid, percussive effects.
Blackbird · 1958Blackbird
★ 6.31958
MovieAnimationMusic
To the tune of a classic French-Canadian nonsense song, surreal blackbird made of lines loses body parts and gets them back threefold.
Pinscreen · 1973Pinscreen
★ 6.21973
MovieDocumentaryAnimation
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.
Loops · 1940Loops
★ 6.11940
MovieAnimation
An experimental film in which both sound and visuals were created entirely by McLaren drawing directly upon the film with ordinary pen and ink. The titles are in eight languages. Rereleased with multilingual titles in 1949.
Spook Sport · 1940Spook Sport
★ 5.81940
MovieAnimationMusic
It's midnight in a graveyard. The principal characters are spooks, ghosts, bats, bells, and, at the end, the sun. As midnight strikes, 12 spooks appear, then two ghosts. They move to the music's rhythm. Against the black night, they are blue and yellow. Bats appear as does a xylophone of bones. Mist rises, spooks swirl. A bell tolls. The sky turns light blue, the ghosts' dance slows. Then black night returns bringing intimations of frenzy. Bones play snare drums; spooks peek out of square graves. Scary faces appear. Frenetic movement takes over. A rooster crows and all return to earth as the sun's light appears.
Mosaic · 1965Mosaic
★ 5.51965
MovieAnimation
A man sets a ping-pong ball into motion and it becomes fruitful and multiplies.
Fiddle De-Dee · 1947Fiddle De-Dee
★ 5.51947
MovieMusicAnimation
A film fantasy of dancing music and dancing color. Listen to the Mocking Bird played by an oldtime fiddler, brilliant patterns ripple, flow, flicker and blend. A Norman McLaren painting on film, translates sound into sight.
More Like This
Merry Madagascar · 2009Merry Madagascar
★ 6.52009
MovieAnimationFamily
While trapped on the island of Madagascar, the Central Park Zoo escapees receive a visit from Santa--crash landing on their territory and getting amnesia to boot! The animals must help Santa assume his rightful place in the universe, while King Julian laps up the opportunity for his subjects.
B.O.B.'s Big Break · 2009B.O.B.'s Big Break
★ 5.92009
MovieAnimationAdventure
Dr. Cockroach comes up with a brilliant plan to break themselves out of Area 52 – but to implement the plan, he has to trick B.O.B. into thinking it’s his birthday.
Johnny Express · 2014Johnny Express
★ 7.42014
MovieAnimationComedy
In the year 2150, Johnny, a lazy Space Delivery Man, must deliver a package on a planet he does not fully understand.
Mickey's Christmas Carol · 1983Mickey's Christmas Carol
★ 7.71983
MovieFamilyAnimation
Ebenezer Scrooge is far too greedy to understand that Christmas is a time for kindness and generosity. But with the guidance of some new found friends, Scrooge learns to embrace the spirit of the season. A retelling of the classic Dickens tale with Disney's classic characters.
Elephants Dream · 2006Elephants Dream
★ 5.82006
MovieAnimationScience Fiction
Elephants Dream is the story of two strange characters exploring a capricious and seemingly infinite machine. The elder, Proog, acts as a tour-guide and protector, happily showing off the sights and dangers of the machine to his initially curious but increasingly skeptical protege Emo. As their journey unfolds we discover signs that the machine is not all Proog thinks it is, and his guiding takes on a more desperate aspect. Elephants Dream is a story about communication and fiction, made purposefully open-ended as the world’s first 3D animated “Open movie”. The film itself is released under the Creative Commons license, along with the entirety of the production files used to make it (roughly 7 Gigabytes of data). The software used to make the movie is the free/open source animation suite Blender along with other open source software, thus allowing the movie to be remade, remixed and re-purposed with only a computer and the data on the DVD or download.
