Cosmic Zoom

This short animated film delves into the mysteries of time: how calendars came to be; why the seasons change; why the year is divided into days, etc. From Babylon to 16th-century Europe, this film presents the history of the measurement of time.

The Science Please! collection uses archival footage, animated illustrations and amusing narration to explain various scientific discoveries and phenomena.

The Science Please! collection uses archival footage, animated illustrations and amusing narration to explain various scientific discoveries and phenomena.

Film animation and a knowledge of outer space bring to the screen this spectacular, awe-inspiring view of our solar system. Staggering distances are eliminated through the art of film: before our eyes is displayed the wonder of the universe. Moon, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Venus, Earth and all the other satellites and lesser matter in space are seen in amazing detail and perspective in their eternal orbits around the sun.

For more background info on this film, visit the NFB.ca blog.

This short film depicts what happens to all that paper we put in our recycling boxes.

The NFB's 22nd Oscar®-nominated film.

This animated short proposes what many earthlings have long feared – that the automobile has inherited the planet. When life on Earth is portrayed as one long, unending conga-line of cars, a crew of extra-terrestrial visitors understandably assume they are the dominant race. While humans, on the other hand, are merely parasites. An Oscar® nominee, this film serves as an entertaining case study.

Iris is about to greedily devour her lunch—a mountain of fries—and her friend gives her a lecture. In Cathon’s opinion, fries are not a balanced meal. And yet they’re in Canada’s Food Guide. Or are they? Maybe not.

Voiced by Angela Galuppo and Cat Lemieux, The Great List of Everything was produced by La Pastèque and the National Film Board of Canada in collaboration with Télé-Québec. Produced with the financial participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund.

Cathon has a new best friend—Ruben the goldfish. Iris’s latest hobby is fishing. A fine kettle of fish to be sure. The fishing rod is an amazing piece of gear, but where did it come from?

Voiced by Angela Galuppo and Cat Lemieux, The Great List of Everything was produced by La Pastèque and the National Film Board of Canada in collaboration with Télé-Québec. Produced with the financial participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund.

How Do They Put the Centres in Chocolates? is one of a series of short films that reveal the mysteries of how things are made. Viewers are taken on a visit to the factory to see how a whole variety of chocolate treats are produced.

In this short documentary, watch sparks fly and molten metal run white hot as it goes from scrap metal to fresh steel.

Iris believes that every time you turn the lights on or off in a room, it costs 25 cents. Cathon sets her straight, and then explains where the light in lightbulbs comes from.

Voiced by Angela Galuppo and Cat Lemieux, The Great List of Everything was produced by La Pastèque and the National Film Board of Canada in collaboration with Télé-Québec. Produced with the financial participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund.