[.ca] Leonard Maltin's Animated Favorites From the National ...

From Amazon.com:
Since its establishment in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada has provided a place for artists to explore innovative styles, content, and media, especially in animation. Leonard Maltin serves as the genial host of this overview of the board's work, explaining some of the more recherché techniques developed there. Jacques Drouin manipulated the shadows of thousands of tiny steel pins to produce the gray, pointillist images in his striking "Mindscape." Norman McLaren drew, painted, and scratched images onto the surface of 35mm film stock as he sought to marry animation, the least spontaneous of art forms, to the bright, improvisational music of the young Oscar Peterson. These elegant experiments contrast sharply with the humor of John Weldon's "The Log Driver's Waltz" and Sheldon Cohen's "The Sweater." "Log Driver's Waltz" is a nutty, loose-limbed adaptation of a folk song in which a woman reflects that any dancing partner seems flat-footed compared to a man who can skip over spinning logs in a river. "The Sweater" presents a warmly nostalgic memoir of boyhood hero-worship--with a slyly funny ending. As Maltin notes, the NFB has served as a "kind of academy" that has enabled talented artists to pursue individual visions of what an animated film can be--an academy that U.S. citizens can only envy. Complete contents: 1. "Begone Dull Care," 2. "Mindscape," 3. "The Log Driver's Waltz," 4. "The Cat Came Back," 5. "Getting Started," 6. "The Sweater," 7. "The Street," 8. "Pas de Deux," 9. "Anniversary." These films are unrated and suitable for ages 10 and older for some adult themes and unusual imagery. -- Charles Solomon

Amazon.ca Canadian Essential:
One of the more unusual DVDs on our Canadian Essentials list, this survey of nine animated short films is produced by the National Film Board and hosted by Leonard Maltin. It gives viewers an opportunity to see some creative and experimental short films that might not find an audience elsewhere. Most important, it encapsulates what makes the NFB such an important part of Canadian film culture: It allows a place for Canadian artists to try different techniques and develop their individual visions of what animated film can be.

Better than most collections, but not outstanding:
This is certainly worth buying for "Begone Dull Care" and "The Street," and I applaud Maltin for including those, but it's frustrating to see overplayed clunkers like "The Cat Came Back" included on collection after collection of FBC animation (it's on at least two other dvd's that I'm aware of) while so much great work in their vaults never sees the light of day. I understand this a reflection of Maltin's personal taste, but the FPC's dvd releases share too much material with each other to make buying more than one or two worthwhile.