''The Romance of Transportation in Canada'' is a 1952

animated short Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

film made by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

, as part of the postwar ''

Canada Carries On ''Canada Carries On'' (French: ''En avant Canada'') was a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada which ran from 1940 to 1959. The series was initially created as morale-boosting propaganda films during the Second World War. Wi ...

'' series, offering a humorous account of the history of

transportation in Canada Canada, the world's second-largest country in total area, is dedicated to having an efficient, high-capacity multimodal transport spanning often vast distances between natural resource extraction sites, agricultural and urban areas. Canada's tr ...

. The film was directed by Colin Low and produced by Tom Daly. ''The Romance of Transportation in Canada'' featured animation by

Wolf Koenig Wolf Koenig (October 17, 1927 – June 26, 2014) was a Canadian film director, producer, animator, cinematographer, and a pioneer in Direct Cinema at the National Film Board of Canada. Early life Born in Dresden, Germany, Koenig emigrated to Ca ...

and

Robert Verrall Robert Verrall (born January 13, 1928 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian animator, director, film producer and administrator who worked with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) from 1945 until the 1980s. One of the first to join the NFB's fled ...

and was narrated by

Guy Glover Guy Glover (November 5, 1910 in London, U.K. – May 17, 1988 in Hudson, Canada) was a senior National Film Board of Canada (NFB) producer and administrator. Career Guy Glover's career as an NFB senior producer and administrator spanned more than ...

. Noted composer

Eldon Rathburn Eldon Davis Rathburn (21 April 1916 – 31 August 2008) was a Canadian film composer who scored over 250 films during his thirty-year tenure as a staff composer at the National Film Board of Canada. Known as "the dean of Canadian film composers",< ...

composed the film score.

Synopsis

Throughout its history, transportation in Canada was fraught with difficulty especially looking at

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

's vast distances and natural obstacles such as forest, mountains and rivers. Eventually these obstacles were met with unique solutions, beginning with Canada's

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

whose canoes allowed for transport over inland waterways. Early pioneers faced the same problems but with larger

bateau A bateau or batteau is a shallow- draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. T ...

, cargo could be hauled over longer distances on water. On land, the use of ox-drawn carts became the means to cross rough terrain until stagecoaches were introduced. With the advent of steam power, and the construction of the Trans-Canada Railway finally the great distances of Canada were overcome. In the early 20th Century, the internal combustion engine then made the next step forward for modern travel with the proliferation of automobiles, aircraft, and even "flying saucers" to come.

Production

''The Romance of Transportation in Canada'' was an animated short in the NFB's films ''Canada Carries On'' series (first created as a wartime series).Morris, Peter
"Film Reference Library: Canada Carries On."
''Canadian Film Encyclopedia''. Retrieved: February 7, 2016. The film was a product of the NFB's Unit B production team.Ellis and McLane 2005, p. 167. ''The Romance of Transportation in Canada'' marked the NFB’s first major foray into industrial animation, influenced not by the auteur style of NFB animation studio founder

Norman McLaren William Norman McLaren, LL. D. (11 April 1914 – 27 January 1987) was a Scottish Canadian animator, director and producer known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).Rosenthal, Alan. ''The new documentary in action: a caseb ...

, but by the

United Productions of America United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio active from the 1940s through the 1970s. Beginning with industrial and World War II training films, UPA eventually produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Picture ...

(UPA) style."Romance of Transportation in Canada."
''Canadian Film Encyclopedia''. Retrieved: February 7, 2016.

Reception

''The Romance of Transportation in Canada'' was produced for television broadcast on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

. Individual films were distributed worldwide by the NFB and were also made available to film libraries operated by university and provincial authorities. A total of 199 films in the ''Canada Carries On'' series were produced before the series was canceled in 1959.Ohayon, Albert
"Propaganda cinema at the NFB".
''National Film Board of Canada'', July 13, 2009. Retrieved: February 7, 2016. Canadian film critic Dean Duncan reviewed ''The Romance of Transportation in Canada'' and considered it one of Colin Low's finest works. "Here, the title lettering is really cool, the ox is a great character, the snow sections are beautiful, you might even say authoritative. That overhead prairie shot looks real." Canadian film critic Tom Waugh has also noted that the film's commentary; written and narrated by Norman McLaren's lover, Guy Glover, features "a high

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

commentary" with "very

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the l ...

inflections."

Awards

''The Romance of Transportation in Canada'' received a special

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

, the

Short Film Palme d'Or The Short Film Palme d'Or (french: Palme d'Or du court métrage) is the highest prize given to a short film at the Cannes Film Festival. Since the creation of the Cinéfondation La ''Cinéfondation'' is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes ...

for animation at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

, as well as an

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year 1 ...

nomination.Lenburg 2006, p. 216. It was the NFB's first film to be nominated for an Oscar in the animation category, at the

25th Academy Awards The 25th Academy Awards were held on March 19, 1953 at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, and the NBC International Theatre in New York City, to honor the films of 1952. It was the first Oscars ceremony to be televised, the first ceremony ...

as well as the first international nomination in this category.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Ellis, Jack C. and Betsy A. McLane. ''New History of Documentary Film''. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. . * Evsns, Gary. ''In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001. . * Lenburg, Jeff. ''Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators''. New York: Applause Books, 2006. .

External links

*
Watch ''The Romance of Transportation in Canada'' at NFB.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romance Of Transportation In Canada Canadian animated short films Films directed by Colin Low (filmmaker) Short Film Palme d'Or winners BAFTA winners (films) National Film Board of Canada animated short films Transport in Canada Transport films 1952 short films 1950s animated short films Canadian comedy short films 1952 animated films Films scored by Eldon Rathburn Films produced by Tom Daly Canada Carries On 1950s English-language films 1950s Canadian films