Chantons Noël

Extravagantly gowned marionettes pantomime this old French folksong, sung by the Trio Lyrique. The song describes the traffic over the bridge at Avignon--the beautiful ladies and gallant gentlemen, the musicians and singers, learned professors, uniformed soldiers, comedians, acrobats, and village pranksters.

We illustrated "Envoions d'l'avant nos gens" with a set of puppets dressed in local fabric and "Auprès de ma blonde" with gouache drawings.

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.

A young man, Jean Liber (Paul Guèvremont), who, at the end of his cours classique, decides to leave his rich, happy family and his finance, Pauline (Denise Pelletier), in order to become a missionary in China. This story of his struggle, 'at the crossroads' between love and God's calling, is clearly a pretext for a film designed to encourage young men to enter missionary work.