Neighbours (1952)

A surreal story of two neighbours' destructive feud over a flower.

Director:

Norman McLaren

Writer:

Norman McLaren

Stars:

Grant Munro, Jean Paul Ladouceur

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Grant Munro	...	Neighbour on the Right
Jean Paul Ladouceur	...	Neighbour on the Left

Storyline

This film, shot in pixilation (a kind of stop-motion animation with actors), is about two neighbours who come to barbaric blows over a flower that straddles the property line.

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Plot Keywords:

flower | property line | fence | neighbor | peace | 

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Taglines:

Love your neighbor, meaning, to treat others as you would have them treat you.

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy

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Details

Country:

Canada

Release Date:

1963 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Voisins

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Office national du film du Canada (ONF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Instead of the word THE END, the film ends with a sentence repeated in fifteen different languages: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR.

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Connections

Featured in Animation Favorites from the National Film Board of Canada (1994)

User Reviews

A true classic

This eight minutes film is the most know work of animation and experimentation wizzard Norman McLaren. It is as fresh as it was en the early fifties, and also as much disturbing. But the message is (sadly) still OK today. The story is about two friendly neighbourgs taking some fresh air near their fence. Suddenly a flower grows. And the two men kill each other for knowing which side of the land belongs the flower. All this without words, but with experimental music that McLaren had draw on the movie tape.