The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes.

If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more
Who Are We? | Explore Your Canadian Identity with This Hilarious Short Cartoon

Who Are We? | Explore Your Canadian Identity with This Hilarious Short Cartoon

Who Are We? | Explore Your Canadian Identity with This Hilarious Short Cartoon

O Canada. Who are we, and why do we live here again?

These questions, as slippery as codfish and as vast as the Prairies, have haunted Canadians since before 1867.

WWE_INSERT

In Who Are We?, a 10-minute cartoon by Zlatko Grgić, the good old Canadian identity conundrum get a brand new spin.

The film opens with some history, before breaking into off-the-wall “Canadian” versions of world classics such as “Freezing Beauty,” and “The Barber of Toronto.”

Zlatko Grgić, the brilliant Croatian animator behind Professor Balthazar and Maxi Cat, moved to Canada in the late 1960s, after beging recruited by NFB producers who fell in love with his work.

WWE-ISNERT 2

Those who remember him from Hot Stuff (also available on NFB.ca), will be glad to encounter once again his fresh animation style and slightly nutty sense of humour. He clearly had a lot of fun with this one.

Who Are We?, Zlatko Grgic, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Add a new comment
  1. This is made in the 70’s, what do you expect?
    Silly and funny as hell, I really enjoyed it.

    — Oscar,
  2. Good clip! More emphasis on First Nations & First Peoples (Aboriginals) our very first settlers & true hosts. And info on our inventors & inventions which also made us ‘Who we are’!
    O Canada – our home & native land – the true North strong & free.
    Thank you …

    — PamAnn,
  3. Gotta agree – disappointing, could have been the 1950s. Everyone white and male, except for stereotyped First Nations and Inuit…

    — SMathews,
  4. this is so sad, annoying, iritating, and just plain insulting

    it is long past time that Canadians represent themselves in a truthful, positive and empowering light

    the only redeeming quality are the dancing Mounties and their steeds

    — shay,
  5. well if you are appealing to a bunch of male white Europeans then it is okay but this white girl wasn’t impressed that they were no blacks, Chinese etc or females as who Canada is,if this was made 50 years ago, I would have understood, come on!!! as Justine said this is 2016, did the conservatives pay for this?? You can do better with the content

    — Colleen Hussey,
  6. Who are we? Is cute but why re-in force erroneous stereotypes about Inuit rubbing noses to kiss ? tsk tsk

    The walrus shopping list was great though.

    — Charmaine Spencer,
  7. Personally I am getting very tired of having the ‘settlers’ ALWAYS represented by the French, English, Scottish, and as in this clip, Spanish, etc etc. never, ever a mention of the Germanic people who contributed so much to this country. As a descendant, I feel like Canadian historians are wearing blinders, are in denial of that culture’s contribution.

    — Ingrid,
  8. absolutely love this…what fun & how true…

    — shelley chochinov,
  9. Sorry, NFB You are out of touch as you always were. Get out of Toronto, see the rest of Canada as it really is.

    — John Kasian,
  10. Not a real country –10 provinces with no common goal or agenda–weak federal gov.

    — W hyndman,
  11. On one level, fun. On another level so politically problematic. Did Indigenous people in Canada cease to exist after the fur trade era except for the (still?!) igloo-dwelling Inuit? Are contemporary Canadians (including Mounties) all white and mostly male? Are all our cultural hybrids so European in origin?

    — Susan Gingell,
  12. I grew up in Sault, Michigan. My dad was born is Sault, Ontario.

    — Arthur Koski,
    1. I grew up in the Sault as well. I head for Canada for every vacation. Everyone I talk to wants to know Why Canada? I can only laugh. I will always feel connected to those Canadians with that wonderful accent I can always discern on the phone or anywhere and their beautiful, cold, and sometimes bleak country.

Write your comment here