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A producer monkey pitches a fairytale extravaganza to a sceptical financier. A psychedelic meta-comedy that mixes animation with excerpts from a Soviet science-fiction fantasy spectacle.

A witch, disgruntled by the fact that no one takes Halloween seriously anymore, decides to stir things up and disrupt the social gathering in her old house as well as turn a couple of kids who love monsters into actual monsters.

A royal statue makes friends with a small swallow.

Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.

Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the Little Mermaid who gave her life for the one she loved is brought to life with beautiful animation and narration by Richard Chamberlain.

Nesbitt Spoon, who's a bit of a nebbish, tells us about his day, which is fairly average up until the moment that his doctor tells him he has only five minutes left to live.

Long, long ago the world didn't have any snow and winter was a time of wind, darkness and cold. One day a group of kids with a heartfelt cause to transform the season marched to the Ministry of Winter to persuade the all-powerful, icy-hearted Mr.Winter to use his magic and bestow the great gift of snowfall upon the world. It's a gift that makes the season full of wonder and joy, it is The Gift of Winter.

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

This animated short follows an unwanted baby who is passed from house to house. The film is the Canadian contribution to an hour-long feature film celebrating UNESCO's Year of the Child (1979). It illustrates one of the ten principles of the Declaration of Children's Rights: every child is entitled to a name and a nationality. The film took home an Oscar® for Best Animated Short Film.

Blocks and balls fight simply because they are different, until their battle reduces everyone to the same shape.

Animator Ryan Larkin does a visual improvisation to music performed by a popular group presented as sidewalk entertainers. His take-off point is the music, but his own beat is more boisterous than that of the musicians. The illustrations range from convoluted abstractions to caricatures of familiar rituals. Without words.

Two rival robotics companies in the future release their latest creations at a robotics convention, claiming each to be the latest and greatest in technological advances. Mega Stellar Company's release is a robot boy named Romie-O, while Super Solar Cybernetics has released a girl robot named Julie-8. Unforeseen to each of the company's creators, is how each of the advanced robots soon falls in love with the other.

In this short, an artist creates a painting of the landscape he sees, then finds he can literally climb into the picture to see the fantastic world inside.

This short film was created by a group of Indigenous filmmakers at the NFB in 1972 and is essentially a song by Willie Dunn sung by Bob Charlie and illustrated by John Fadden: "Who were the ones who bid you welcome and took you by the hand, inviting you here by our campfires, as brothers we might stand?" The song expresses bitter memories of the past, of trust repaid by treachery, and of friendship debased by exploitation upon the arrival of European colonists.

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

An illustration of beings in a world where countless plant and animal species rapidly become extinct, and resources run dry due to greed. However, it is possible to avoid disaster by conserving and sharing what we have.

A view of man's perpetual struggle for self-destruction, in which we glimpse a world where rockets are part of everyone's lives.

Driven by his love of cannabis, a street dog displays incredible promise for the drug squad when he chases down a local dealer. He makes headlines worldwide as he takes on smugglers and crime lords. But when his drug habit and his work inevitably collide, a clear message emerges: dogs and cannabis don't mix.

Although only a couple of minutes long, this animated short makes the point that oxygen is the stuff of life whether on land, in the air or water, but that it is becoming scarcer as man-made pollutants crowd it out. This is a film without words in which plants, birds, fish and, finally, man come to the same "breathless" end

A giant builds a wall to keep children out of his garden, but then winter sets in permanently. Children's classic story by Oscar Wilde.

A humourous illustration of the natural process of evolution.

This short animation by artist and animator Evelyn Lambart offers a wordless plea for the right of all living creatures to a clean, unpolluted environment. With rich colour and intricate animated motion, the film features birds, butterflies and other woodland creatures succumbing to air pollution caused by human inventions.

This funny yet serious short film demonstrates the effectiveness of advertising and the marketing machine. Its comic appeal lies in the characters and the absurd situations they find themselves in, but it also shines a harsh light on our tendency towards needless consumerism prompted by a steady flow of commercials.

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.

A group of schoolchildren playing in an idyllic natural landscape are visited by a mysterious magician who entertains them with his transformations. But he soon proves sinister as he begins to transform the landscape into a grim, unsmiling metropolis.

This film tells an Algonquin legend about animals on a quest to capture fire from the god of thunder and return it to their human friends.

Three aliens from an unknown planet, who bear a strong resemblance to the Biblical Magi, visit earth to know the true meaning of Christmas. Peter, a young boy, and Lucy, his goose, are the first to encounter them. Unable to find the true meaning of Christmas in town, Peter takes them to his family's house in the woods. While Peter's grandmother tells the aliens about her memories of Christmas, Marvin, one of the town's bullies, steals Lucy. In the chase to rescue Lucy, Marvin falls through the ice in a lake. Peter attempts to rescue him but falls into the lake as well. The townsfolk, who were out searching for the aliens, attempt to save the boys but their human chain isn't long enough to reach them. The three aliens, who had sworn not to interfere with events on earth, decide to help in order to learn the meaning of Christmas.

This short animated film presents an allegorical portrait of a society where men have lost their autonomy in the struggle to be recognized by the very society that restricts their freedom.

A concert pianist prepares to begin his practising for a major concert coming up. Unfortunately, he has this procrastination problem that prevents him from getting any serious time done, even when his frustration with it literally driving him into a frenzy.

This short children's film by Co Hoedeman tells the story of 2 children and their encounter with an angry dragon, all represented by colourful building blocks.

Pinscreen animation makes use of a screen filled with movable pins, which can be moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the side so that the pins cast shadows.

A lonely man living in a large city buys a life-size sex doll. His relationship with his dream doll causes a certain reaction in the community. A bizarre adaption of Le Ballon Rouge.

This experimental animated short takes a critical look at consumerism in a material world. Thousands of cut-out ads are presented in increasingly fragmented, rapid succession. The film's disorienting and hectic pace seeks to interrogate the extent to which seductive advertising is a shockingly strong force in shaping our desires, needs, and lives in contemporary capitalism.

The story of four children from around the world who try to rescue the sun from an evil sorcerer.

Life in Canada is reflected by people's comments on trees as a tree is shown undergoing seasonal changes.

This short surrealistic film portrays a growing boy and the bizarre world of imposed conditions and contradictions he evolves in. Made by students of Queen's University, A One/Two/Many/World is social commentary expressed in symbolic language.

Uses animation without narration to show the painting of a man's face--a face that is continuously metamorphosing into different types. The film's title indicates an artist's evolution, as well as the evolution of man in relation to society and to his innate potential.

This short animated fable stars witches, cloaked riders and other Gothic characters, in a tale about the hungry natural world. Here the artist plays cat's cradle with ideas, especially the notion that one thing leads to another and that lives lead from one to another. Without words but featuring a witch's brew of sounds.

Zlatko Grgic's short animated film depicts how humans evolved from the sea and the problems that ensued. Using humour, he shows how industry leads to waste and pollution, which in turn wreak havoc on the delicate balance of our ecosystems.

A BAFTA award nominated animation based on a poem by Earle Birney and a painting by El Greco. The theme concerns the responsibility of the innovator for the thing he makes. In the film, a carpenter builds a cross but is reluctant to become involved in the right or wrong of situations that bring men to die on crosses. His interest is in his own craftsmanship. To illustrate this moral, the filmmaker used light-pen drawings, giving colour and emphasis through optical processes.

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.

Animated short film made in three parts on the pin screen by Alexeieff-Parker. With these three exercises, director Jacques Drouin experiments with the play of light and shadow alone. Original, this experience presents us with a reality that is not truncated although it may appear as follows: the faculty of wonder will be able to create the necessary link between everyday life and the way it was rendered.

This animated short film attempts to answer the eternal questions, What is dying? and How does it feel? Based on recent studies, case histories and some of the ancient myths, the afterlife state is portrayed as an awesome but methodical working-out of all the individual's past experiences. Film without words.

A richly illustrated cartoon film that enlarges on man's capacity to foul his own nest, and to ignore it. Made by a joint team of Canadian and Yugoslav animation artists, the film transmits its warning with unflagging humor, imagination, movement and design. In between animated sequences Dr. Fred H. Knelman, Professor of Science and Human Affairs at Concordia University in Montréal, comments on the import of what is shown and on what lies in store if more responsibility is not taken on a global scale to conserve what is left of our vital resources and usable environment.

Made up of excerpts from animation films made at the Cape Dorset animation workshop, interspersed with live-action footage of modern-day Cape Dorset. The contrast is uncomfortably evident.

Lotte Reiniger's last film, following the adventures of two kingdoms through the overseeing eye of a destiny-knitting witch.

Sleepy Hollow, a town plagued by the Headless Horseman, hires the most educated person they can find to fight him - Ichabod Crane. He, talking horse and dog, and Rip van Winkle go on the quest. But the Horseman has a secret.

The very short animation by Richard Condie is a lesson in how to make a fool of oneself easily and effectively. Two gentlemen are involved: one who wishes to read his newspaper and another who insists on performing acrobatic feats. Although the outcome is surprising, the message is clear: going to great lengths to impress one's neighbor is futile.

In this animated short, simple geometric forms as thin and flat as playing cards constantly form and re-form to the sound of the koto, a 13-stringed Japanese instrument.

A watercolour evocation of a prairie storm coming after a period of severe drought.

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

When a young female mouse makes a deal with the devil to become a rock star and learns the price, her boyfriend has to help her avoid damnation.

This short animated film features the sandman and the creatures he sculpts out of sand. These lively creatures build a castle and celebrate the completion of their new home, only to be interrupted by an uninvited guest. Cleverly constructed with nuance, the film leaves interpretation open to the viewer. The film took home an Oscar® for Best Animated Short Film.

This animated short by Evelyn Lambart is a visual adaptation of the famous Aesop fable "The Lion and the Mouse," in which a mouse proves to a lion that the weak and small may be of help to those much mightier than themselves.

This film deals with a Jewish family in Montreal, Canada as they care for a dying grandmother and the young boy who is impatient to get the room he was promised as soon as she kicks the bucket.

A film that pays tribute to the various celebrations in Québec on St-Jean-Baptiste Day.

A short stop-motion film by Bryan Michael Stoller at age 15.

Made as part of a Triton Gallery show to publicize the poster art of Canadian artist Vittorio Fiorucci, filmmaker Wakefield Poole cut apart posters and hand-animated the film using his 8mm camera to create stop-motion. The film was combined with dancers, lighting and projections to create an innovative gallery show.

With vivid and rhythmic images set to the music and lyrics of Yvon Deschamps, "Je suis moi," a story of laughter, traces the French, English, and American origins that shape the Quebec nation.

The first part of this series by Norman McLaren deals only with tempo. It starts by showing the disc travelling in one move (1/24 of a second) from A to B, and progressively demonstrates slower and slower tempos.