Norman McLaren

The National Film Board of Canada is celebrating 65 years of animation and they are offering The Complete Works of Norman McLaren on DVD. McLaren was an extraordinary experimental filmmaker whose work had a huge influence on my drawing and doodling style from an early age. Whenever you see any of my sketches or illustrations, you can be sure McLaren had some hand in that.

I remember having to borrow The Drawings of Norman McLaren (Tundra Books, 1975) from the Concordia Library in elementary school and loved it so much, I almost didn't give it back. I did but never forgot about his amazing illustrations and a couple of years ago while browsing through the second hand bookstore (that now no longer exists) next to Argo on St. Catherine Street, I found a used copy of the book and snatched it up as fast as I could.

View a trailer for Norman McLaren - The Master's Edition DVD here.

You can also view some of his animation shorts on the National Film Board website, such as, Blinkity Blank, Hen Hop, Le Merle, and one of my personal favourites, Neighbours/Voisins.

Please watch them, they're great.