Canada Vignettes: Melvin Arbuckle, Famous Canadian

This animated short illustrates how at one time horses provided man with unprecedented mobility and how the arrival of the iron horse brought this era to an end.

Historical events are related through the medium of simulated news broadcasting in 1878.

An animated vignette about the role of Thomas Spence in the formation and demise of the Republic of Manitoba at Portage la Prairie in 1867-68.

A humorous account of the pioneering journey of Lady Frances Simpson, along with her piano, from England to Manitoba.

A montage of watercolour images of the work and occasional play of a farm family.

The history of the development of modern logging techniques on the British Columbia coast.

Animated images showing the variety of people who live in Canada.

An animated film depicting the evolution of the City of Toronto from 1749 to 1978.

An examination of the Viking explorers who were the first Europeans to discover Canada.

In this short vignette, skier Kathy Kreiner prepares for and participates in her Olympic gold-medal race at Innsbruck.

Two hundred years ago Captain Cook stopped briefly at Nootka Sound. This animated vignette depicts how he began the sea otter trade which led to the development of the Pacific north west.

This film describes the journey of nomadic Asian people to North America via a land bridge.

This is the story of the first French settlers in North America, who spent their first winter on an island in the Bay of Fundy. Despite overwhelming hardships the survivors, joined by other new colonists, eventually established Port Royal, the foundation of Acadia and the Acadian people.

An animated film about the Hudson's Bay trading post, and the relationship between fur traders and Indians.

This short documentary vignette reveals the curious origin of the name of Flin Flon, Manitoba.

Bill Miner was a train robber in British Columbia at the turn of the century. This animated film depicts a disastrous episode in his career.

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.

A Canadian prairie farm family has a tough beginning on their new farm.

This short film from the Canada Vignettes series profiles a unique French-Canadian family, the Fourniers, 12 of whom work as stunt men and women for films.

A short history of one of the traditional dances of Acadia--the quadrille.

The maple leaf on the Canadian flag turns into two profiles that illustrate the many relationships between people.

This short film from the Canada Vignettes series features tenor Roger Doucet singing the Canadian national anthem, O Canada, before a hockey game in the Montreal Forum.

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.

A Canada Vignette giving a humorous animated version of the history of Fort Prince of Wales from its construction to its capture by the French.

Animated film of a traditional Franco-Manitoban tale that resembles the story of the first Christmas.

A short illustrating Wade Hemsworth's folk song about a woman's admiration for the agility of her boyfriend, the log driver.

A story about two symbolic characters who sway to the song Alouette.

Close-ups of fine detail of the ancient skill of quillwork embroidery--brightly coloured geometric designs on high-ankled, Seneca-type moccasins. These moccasins are over one hundred years old, from the fabled Speyer Collection that was repatriated from Germany by the National Museum of Man in 1975.

The metamorphosis of a map of Canada into human forms who share the natural resources to the rhythm of a dance.

A visual interpretation of the poem "Riverdale Lion" by Canadian poet and essayist John Robert Colombo.

This film promotes, in the best K-Tel tradition, a new device used to speak French.

An animated film showing a woolly mammoth and its offspring. These animals lived on the Canadian tundra over ten thousand years ago.

An egg desperately tries to prevent being hatched. In this animated short from the Canada Vignette series, learn how societies in evolution are often in danger of self-destruction.

The decorative pattern style of a traditional Metis coat is explored.

In this animated short from the Canada Vignette series, the camera explores, in exquisite detail, the daily hunt, fishing scenes and children at play as etched in black on an ivory Inuit pipe.

This film is about the emotions that can lead one to take that jump into space necessary for hang gliding with a Delta Plane.

A short history of Canada's greatest sailing ship.

One of six Canada Vignettes from the NFB production Don Messer - His Land and His Music, featuring one of the principal performers, Don Messer, who has since passed away.

One of six Canada Vignettes from the NFB production Don Messer - His Land and His Music, featuring one of the principal performers, Marg Osburne, who has since passed away.

A vignette based on the story of John McIntosh, the Ontario developer of the McIntosh apple.

This short film from the Canada Vignettes series depicts the Montreal of 1905-1910 with hand-painted vintage postcards.

This short fiction film tells the love story between a young anglophone and a young francophone who unite their destinies in roller skates.

A vignette on the travelling calliope (also known as steam organ), a musical instrument that produces sound by sending steam through large locomotive whistles.

This animated film illustrates the terrible journey, the back-breaking work, the exotic and gaudy city of Dawson, and the turmoil and triumphs of the 1898 Klondike gold rush.

A vignette exploring the depths of the Arctic Ocean.

A vignette about a 1912 fly-swatting contest organized by The Toronto Daily Star to draw attention to the danger posed to public health by flies. Through archival photographs and newspaper headlines the highlights of the contest are reviewed in a light, humorous manner. The winner, a determined young lady named Beatrice White, killed over 500 000 flies during the six-week contest and was dubbed the "Angel of Death" by the paper.

This vignette illustrates the variety of professions, people and technical procedures required by the filmmaking process.

Ice cutting on the St. Lawrence River in the 1860s is illustrated in song and animated graphics.

This model-animation vignette takes a humorous look at the theme of transportation.

A vignette using animation and live action to depict mussel farmers digging in the mud through the ice on bays and estuaries in Prince Edward Island.

In this short documentary from the Canada Vignettes series, a Saskatchewan grain elevator is moved across the snow-covered prairie to a new home after nearly a half-century of use. The film follows the lifting and transporting of the 9-storey, 200-ton structure, and examines the feelings of the people as they witness the final passing of their town's one and only grain elevator.

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.

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

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.

When the celebration of Mother's Day was introduced around 1910, Stephen Leacock observed the quaint idea with a short story. The family in Leacock's version turns the idea to their advantage, taking a splendid holiday in the country, leaving Mother behind to enjoy her special day in peace.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Based on the short story by Stephen Leacock, this is a satirical camera-animated story about Christmas expectations and the loss of innocence. Young Hoodoo has bought his parents cigars and a brooch for Christmas. As he opens his presents expectantly on Christmas morning, he keeps his hopes up until the end--will the next gift from Santa Claus be a pair of skates, a puppy dog, Noah's Ark, a sleigh or a drum...? When none of the gifts meets his expectations, he decides to do things differently next year.

Face of the Earth explores the origin of our planet's outer layer, the why-and-how of its mobility. Through the use of well-designed diagrams, the earth's cyclical activity is clearly explained. Some unusual footage on volcanoes gives added punch to an already absorbing subject.

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.

An unconventional version of The Christmas Carol.

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.

A charming children's story about three birds--one is being served for Thanksgiving dinner by Grandma. The other birds are featured in two improbable situations which show the extremes that people go to in order to get a turkey on the table for Thanksgiving.

This animated short depicts a family celebration of Passover as seen through the eyes of two little girls. They identify the traditional symbolic dishes and are treated to a special story by their grandfather that brings to life the meaning of this important Jewish holiday.

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.