How well do you know your animation classics? | Curator’s Perspective

October 28 is International Animation Day, and that provides us with a great opportunity to revisit some of our classics. Instead of suggesting a list of films for you to watch, how about a little game instead? I’ll ask 10 questions to put your knowledge to the test.

Ready? Let’s have some fun.

This Norman McLaren film won an Oscar for best documentary short in 1952, even though it’s an animated film. Which of these films is it?

A) Pas de deux

B) Neighbours

C) A Chairy Tale

D) Universe

Answer: B) Neighbours

This oddity is probably due to the fact that, at the time, the category of “Best Short Subject (Cartoon)” was dominated by cel animation. Members of the Academy may have been taken by surprise by McLaren’s use of pixillation, which consists of filming people and objects one shot at a time—a technique that was not well-known in the 1950s.

 

In Getting Started (1979), animation filmmaker Richard Condie features a character who has a hard time rolling up his sleeves and practising a piece of music he needs to play at an important concert. What instrument does this person play?

A) Guitar

B) Saxophone

C) Piano

D) Flute

Answer: C) Piano

This gem of a film from our famed Winnipeg animation studio tells the story of a concert pianist distracted by everything around him in his apartment, and unable to start practising. A truly hilarious short by the great Richard Condie. You’ll want to watch it over and over again.

 

In 1976, Jacques Drouin made Mindscape, a masterpiece that entices us with its beauty, depth and emotional power. What animation technique did he use to make the film?

A) Drawing on film stock

B) Rotoscope

C) Pinscreen

D) Etching on film stock

Answer: C) Pinscreen

Invented by Alexandre Alexeïeff and Claire Parker, the pinscreen was Jacques Drouin’s artistic tool of choice throughout his remarkable and long career at the NFB. Over more than 30 years, he made six extraordinary films, becoming the grand master of pinscreen animation—an unusual and exacting technique.

 

The Sweater (1980), by Sheldon Cohen, is adapted from the story Une abominable feuille d’érable sur la glace, or Le chandail de hockey, translated into English as The Hockey Sweater. Who is the author of the original story?

A) Roch Carrier

B) Félix Leclerc

C) Michel Tremblay

D) Sheldon Cohen

Answer: A) Roch Carrier

Written by Roch Carrier and published in 1979, The Hockey Sweater tells the story of a boy who orders a sweater of his favourite team—the Montreal Canadiens—from the Eaton’s company catalogue. To his horror, instead he receives a sweater of the team’s sworn enemies: the Toronto Maple Leafs. Like Carrier’s story, Cohen’s film was a big hit. It’s still the favourite animated film of many Canadians, including legendary hockey player Wayne Gretzky.

 

In 1957, Norman McLaren and Claude Jutra co-directed the short film A Chairy Tale. McLaren originally intended it to be a silent film, but in the end incorporated music by which famous musician?

A) Igor Stravinsky

B) Ravi Shankar

C) Oscar Peterson

D) John Coltrane

Answer: B) Ravi Shankar

After editing was complete, McLaren realized the final film needed music. But by whom? The answer came to him while watching a concert by Indian musician and composer Ravi Shankar on TV; he immediately realized that this was the solution to his problem. So, McLaren invited Shankar to the NFB to compose music for the film. McLaren was hoping for a combination of Hindu and Western sounds.[1] In 1957, Shankar and percussionist Chatur Lau arrived at the NFB’s animation studio on Côte-de-Liesse Road, in the Montreal suburb Saint-Laurent, to watch the film and get to work.

 

In the short film The Big Snit (1985), by Richard Condie, the female character has a habit that really gets on her husband’s nerves. What is it?

A) She is constantly vacuuming.

B) She cheats at Scrabble.

C) She watches too much TV.

D) She keeps shaking her eyes.

Answer: D) She keeps shaking her eyes.

After directing Getting Started (1979), John Law and the Mississippi Bubble (1979), and Pigbird (1981), Richard Condie returned in 1985 with the hugely successful The Big Snit. It tells the story of a couple playing Scrabble together one afternoon. The man cheats by looking at his partner’s tiles; meanwhile, she has the infuriating habit of removing her eyes and shaking them every time he’s ready to play a turn. The scene is set for conflict to erupt. But how important is their fight, when a global nuclear war is raging outside? This is another hilarious Condie film that’s not to be missed.

 

In 1952, Colin Low made his first cel animation film at the NFB: The Romance of Transportation in Canada. The film was very successful and won many international awards. Which of the following prizes did it not win?

A) Oscar for best animated short

B) Best animated short at the Cannes Film Festival

C) BAFTA Special Award

Answer: A) Oscar for best animated short.

The film was nominated for an Oscar in the category of “Best Short Subject (Cartoon)” but did not take home the statuette. Instead, it went to Johann Mouse, from the Tom and Jerry series, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by MGM Cartoons.

 

This film by Alison Snowden and David Fine won nearly two dozen awards, including an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. In fact, it was so successful that it spawned its own animated TV series. What is the name of the film?

A) Four Seasons in the Life of Ludovic

B) Animal Behaviour

C) Bob’s Birthday

D) Shaun the Sheep

Answer: C) Bob’s Birthday

Bob’s Birthday led to the TV series Bob and Margaret, featuring the two main characters from the NFB film. The series ran for four 13-episode seasons on the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK, Comedy Central and Showtime in the US, and Global in Canada.

 

In 2014, to mark the 75th anniversary of the NFB, Canada Post released a collection of five stamps, featuring five popular NFB films, including Mon oncle Antoine (1971), by Claude Jutra, Flamenco at 5:15 (1983), by Cynthia Scott, Neighbours (1952), by Norman McLaren, and The Railrodder (1965), by Gerald Potterton. What was the fifth film?

A) The Sand Castle (1977), by Co Hoedeman

B) Canada Vignettes: Log Driver’s Waltz (1979), by John Weldon

C) The Street (1976), by Caroline Leaf

D) The Great Toy Robbery (1963), by Jeff Hale

Answer: B) Canada Vignettes: Log Driver’s Waltz

This little jewel of a film by John Weldon features music by Wade Hemsworth, arranged and performed by sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and is still one of the most popular titles in our collection. It’s not surprising that it was one of the films selected by Canada Post as part of a collection of stamps honouring the NFB.

 

This animated film is a real work of art. It won an award at the Berlin International Film Festival, contains a passage from a famous speech and was made with a seldom-used animation technique. What is the name of the film?

A) Begone Dull Care (1949), by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart

B) La plante humaine (1996), by Pierre Hébert

C) Paradise (1984), by Ishu Patel

D) Black Soul (2000), by Martine Chartrand

Answer: D) Black Soul

 This outstanding film by director Martine Chartrand is about the history and rich culture of Black peoples, their challenges and their hopes. It won two dozen international awards, including a Golden Bear at Berlin in 2001. The film includes an excerpt from Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech and was made using the animation technique of painting on glass.

How did you do?

8 to 10 correct answers

Congratulations! You know your classics very well.

5 to 7 correct answers

Not bad, but you still have some studying to do.

Four or fewer correct answers

You really need to up your game. See you at nfb.ca!

All joking aside, the most important thing is to have fun… and watch the films.

Enjoy!

[1] From a Norman McLaren quote cited in the book Animation for the People: An Illustrated History of the National Film Board, by Charles Solomon. 2025, Abrams, New York, p. 47.