Norman McLaren Movies

Animation featuring dancing black and white shadows.

Produced for the National Film Board of Canada

This cinematic travelogue consists of three parts. In the first part, texts and small maps are our guides through Madrid in 1936. We see pictures of...

An experiment in pure design by film artists Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart. Lines, ruled directly on film, move with precision and grace against...

An experimental film in which both sound and visuals were created entirely by McLaren drawing directly upon the film with ordinary pen and ink. The...

1960s. A test using circles. Silent film.

Perhaps the only film whose content is totally based on the musical form known as canon. The first sequence is a simple demonstration of the canon...

This documentary short illustrates the thematic role of war in the works of filmmaker Norman McLaren, from his traumatic experiences in the Spanish...

Compilation of McLaren's Blurr technique.

One of a series of French-Canadian folk songs, this film was illustrated by Norman McLaren for the Chants populaires series. White gouache drawings...

Norman McLaren attempts to give the opening speech for the first Montreal International Film Festival, but his microphone won't cooperate.

Grant Munro dances to New Orleans jazz music.

Featuring a voiceover. 1944 test inspired by surrealist painter Yves Tanguy, an improvised moving growing landscape in a surrealistic manner.

The third thematic mini documentary about revolutionary filmmaker Norman McLaren.

This animated short by Norman McLaren is a publicity message for a war bond campaign. Symbols, a stick man and lettering are drawn directly on 35mm...

This animated short by Norman McLaren serves as a wartime savings campaign. Symbolic figures, drawn directly on 35mm film stock, move and dance...

The third in a series of five colour films that offer an introduction to the basic techniques of film animation. McLaren explains and demonstrates...

So is this what the kids of today are into? Well, as long as it’s safe.

The fifth thematic mini documentary about revolutionary filmmaker Norman McLaren; this time with a focus on his collaborator Evelyn Lambart.

The second thematic mini documentary about revolutionary filmmaker Norman McLaren.