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Animation on the Family (23)
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At Home with Mrs. HenTali 2006 7 minThis animated short is a comical tale that pokes fun at motherhood. It depicts the temper tantrums of a child and the efforts a mother makes to set her son on the right path. You don’t need to be a chicken to relate. -
The Big SnitRichard Condie 1985 9 minThis wonderful wacky animation film looks at two simultaneous conflicts, a macrocosm of global nuclear war and a microcosm of a domestic quarrel, and how each conflict is resolved. Filled with warmth and unexpectedly off-the-wall humour, the film leaves it to viewers to decide which Snit has really been the Big One.
Love this film? -
Cuckoo, Mr. Edgar!Pierre M. Trudeau 1999 13 minThis charming and amusing animated short for young children offers a timely lesson about the joys of fatherly love. Mr. Edgar's life runs like clockwork - which is not surprising since he's a cuckoo in a cuckoo clock. Not only is he very punctual, he is also compulsively neat and tidy. But one stormy evening, his little world is turned upside down. A branch hit by lightning falls to the ground, dislodging a nest, and three eggs plop uninvited into Mr. Edgar's living room. In no time at all, they hatch into a trio of rambunctious baby birds. It's a crash course in fatherhood for our confirmed bachelor. The hungry little birds take up all his time and attention... but eventually worm their way into his affections.
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A Family for MariaLina Gagnon 1992 5 minAn animated film for five- to eight-year-olds about international adoption and the difficulty of adapting to a new environment. The film also gives a glimpse into the problems of abandoned children in developing countries. In A Family for Maria/Une famille pour Maria, love triumphs over the insecurity of a little Latin American girl who finds a new family in North America.
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Happiness IsClorinda Warny 1972 7 minFor a young mother happiness can be an hour's stroll in the park with her sleeping infant--but happiness is short-lived when the baby begins to cry and the passers-by pause with freely proffered advice. Made of animated paper cut-outs, this film without words is a spoof about the self-styled child experts who are so caught up with their own views of what's best for a child that they fail to see the infant's real problem.
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Here and ThereDiane Obomsawin 2006 9 minIn this animated short, filmmaker Diane Obomsawin shows how childhood can be a chaotic time, especially if you're bouncing back and forth between two continents. With engaging candour and gentle humour, Obomsawin fleshes out an uncertain identity and takes control of her life. Using drawings on paper and digitized snippets of fabric, she creates a whimsical world of simple lines and pastel tones.
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It's a Dog's LifeJulie Rembauville & Nicolas Bianco-Levrin 2012 7 minThis short animation features Fifi the dog, who fantasizes about interstellar travel as an escape from his day-to-day existence as the family scapegoat. While doing whatever it takes to please Mom, Dad and the kids, Fifi tries to make off with some newspaper articles about the latest scientific developments in space travel. Fifi would like nothing better than to be left alone in his basket, his nose buried in a feature story on space travel, but the lively family around him blames him for their own bad behaviour. This animated short is the tale of a dog’s life on a human scale—what results is an urban fable about learning to live together.
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I Was a Child of Holocaust SurvivorsAnn Marie Fleming 2010 15 minThis short animation is director Ann Marie Fleming’s animated adaptation of Bernice Eisenstein’s acclaimed illustrated memoir. Using the healing power of humour, the film probes the taboos around a very particular second-hand trauma, leading us to a more universal understanding of human experience. The film sensitively explores identity and loss through the audacious proposition that the Holocaust is addictive and defining.
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Jaime Lo, Small and ShyLillian Chan 2006 7 minIn this animated short, Jaime Lo's father is sent to Hong Kong for a year-long work assignment. A shy Chinese-Canadian girl, Jaime Lo must use her creativity to cope with his absence. This story offers us a lighthearted glimpse into a common dilemma that many immigrant families face, where one parent must work overseas in order to provide for the rest of the family back home.
Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. -
Kid StuffPierre M. Trudeau 1990 5 minHow conflict between parents is reflected in the anguished drawing of a child. An animated film combining puppets and drawings on paper. Film without words.
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Little Big BangDuncan Major 2016 1 minPrinted manually on a vintage tabletop press using hand-carved linoleum blocks, this very short animation is about a new parent who learns about free expression and the power of letting go. Inspired by the filmmaker’s new baby boy and found sound.
Produced as part of the 11th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship. -
My Grandmother Ironed the King's ShirtsTorill Kove 1999 10 minTorill Kove's grandmother often told her stories. One in particular revolved around ironing shirts for the King of Norway. And what if that intriguing detail was just the tip of the iceberg? Perhaps she also worked covertly in the Norwegian resistance... Maybe she even spearheaded a campaign to create an unprecedented brand of guerrilla warfare! Treating history as a fabric woven from personal stories, animator Torill Kove follows a thread of family history, embroidering it with playful twists along the way. In My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts, she imaginatively renders her grandmother's life and work in Oslo, especially during World War II. Sharp and whimsical, her story combines her grandmother's tales with historical events and fantasy, and shows how a cherished anecdote can come to acquire a mythical status. My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts is about an ordinary woman with a revolutionary instinct. With sharp humour it explores storytelling, myth-making and the important contributions that are possible through the most humble means.
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My Yiddish PapiÉléonore Goldberg 2017 7 minA young woman decides not to answer a phone call from her grandfather, unaware that it will be his last. When he dies, she is overwhelmed with guilt and regret and can’t sleep. But then she remembers a promise made long ago: to illustrate his wartime adventures as a member of the French Resistance.
In co-production with Picbois Productions. -
Mabel's SagaJoDee Samuelson 2004 14 minThis short animation celebrates menopause through the story of Mabel. She’s juggling work, teenagers and an elderly mom. Now she’s got hot flashes and chin hairs! Before you can say "estrogen," purple-haired Mabel finds herself the heroine of her own adventure. Colourful computer animation and a rich musical score offer a reassuring look at one of the most important passages in a woman's life.
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ManivaldChintis Lundgren 2017 12 minManivald, a fox, is turning 33. Overeducated, unemployed and generally uninspired, he lives with his overbearing, retired mother and spends his days learning piano while she makes his coffee and washes his socks. It is an easy life, but not a good one. Their unhealthy co-dependence is about to collapse when the washing machine breaks down and Toomas, a sexy and adventurous wolf repairman, arrives to fix it, and them.
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Operation CuckooPierre M. Trudeau 2002 13 minMr. Edgar putters happily around his cuckoo clock waiting for the return of his adopted birds in the spring. Catastrophe threatens when one of the clock’s gears falls off! A brave firefly comes to the rescue, proving that friendship can light up your life.
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PapaMichèle Pauzé 1992 4 minAn animated film for five- to eight-year-olds on children's right to live with their parents. It tells the story of a child who gently but persistently tries to attract the attention of her father who is wrapped up in his work.
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Rosa RosaFélix Dufour-Laperrière 2008 8 minWhile war is thundering at the gates of the city, Rosa and her lover live serenely together, trying to preserve a fragile normality. Rosa Rosa is the interweaving of individual and collective fates via a love story simply told by the couple themselves. In this animation using reworked photos, Félix Dufour-Laperrière offers an unusual graphic world where public and private spaces overlap.
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Strange InvadersCordell Barker 2001 8 minThis film is a must-see film for parents of young children and a cautionary tale for those planning a family. Part science-fiction, part autobiography, Strange Invaders is another irrepressible comedy from the director of the much-loved classic
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The StreetCaroline Leaf 1976 10 minThis award-winning animation is a poignant interpretation of a short story by Montreal author Mordecai Richler. It makes a strong statement about how many families respond to their old and infirm members. In washes of watercolour and ink, filmmaker Caroline Leaf illustrates reactions to a dying grandmother, capturing family feelings and distilling them into harsh reality.
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Two SistersCaroline Leaf 1991 10 minThis animated short, etched directly onto tinted 70 mm film, depicts the story of two sisters: Viola, who writes novels in a dark room, and Marie, her only companion. Disfigured, Viola counts on her sister to take care of her and shelter her from the outside world. But when an unexpected stranger turns up on their front door, the sisters' quiet lives are disrupted and their routine turns to chaos.
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TzaritzaTheodore Ushev 2006 6 minThis animated short by Theodore Ushev combines warmth, humour and magic in a story about a young girl who misses her grandmother. When Lili finds a tzaritza (magic shell) along the seashore, she hatches a plan to bring her Grandma from Bulgaria to Montreal to make her father happy. Part of the Talespinners collection, the film features music by Normand Roger.
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Variations on Ah! vous dirai-je, mamanFrancine Desbiens 1985 13 minIn this short animation a single room is the setting for a lyrical dance through time about family roots. The objects in the room swirl, rearrange and change themselves to reflect the passing seasons, years and generations. As Victorian Christmas fantasies give way to computer-age realities, the procession of objects reaffirms the values that endure the vagaries of fashion and the ravages of time.
