Produced by Tom Daly for the National Film Board of Canada, directed by Colin Low, narrated by Guy Glover with music by Eldon Rathburn, this animated short was nominated for an Oscar for Beat Short Subject, Cartoon, 1952. It humorously tells the history of how transportation advanced from canoing to trains to automobiles and planes simultaneously. Rathburn's score and Glover's narration are perfect here. My favorite parts are seeing how "comfortable" passengers are when riding stagecoaches and the end when...oh, just watch the short. Not hilarious, just a little amusing but this short helped many animators reap some creative benefits and gave the NFB their quality reputation.
4 Reviews
The Romance of Transportation in Canada
CinemaSerf7 February 2024
Eldon Rathbone's swing-time, jazzy, score sets this up nicely as we hear of the arrival of the first, 16th century, explorers in Canada and of their tenacious and ingenious attempts to travel around this vast wilderness. The canoe serves them well initially, helping the settlers to trade with the locals - tobacco seemingly the best currency. Soon enough though, the needs of the market necessitated larger vessels, wind power supplanted elbow grease and canals started to be built. On land, the ox-cart did the job - if not exactly quickly and they weren't ideal when it snowed so a stagecoach network was devised to bounce their passengers around the countryside in suspension-free coaches along dirt tracks. Engines arrive from Europe and soon the paddle steamers are bringing the industrial revolution - and the railroads - to link the ever more populous towns that were spreading all over the far flung provinces. Except, that is, for the Rockies that belligerently stood in the face of progress! Engineering legerdemain ensues and soon, coast-to-coast travel is possible on land. It's a chronology, so there's only one place left to go and that's the sky - and we conclude with an huge expanse of territory in which virtually nowhere is off limits! It's a fun and lively animation this, with quite an engagingly entertaining narration, that reminded me a little of "Wacky Races" meets the "Pink Panther" as the now Canadian nation uses advancing, ever speedier, communications to keep it's "rendezvous with destiny"!
This cartoon has the distinction of being the first from the NFBC nominated for an Oscar
llltdesq12 June 2001
This short is the first to be nominated for Cartoon Short for the Oscar that was produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Fairly funny and well-done (I doubt I'll ever see one produced by the NFBC that's actively bad), it has a certain charm, but is really not terribly significant otherwise. Worth Watching.
A little gem!
LeRoyMarko17 June 2002
Funny animated short film about the history of transportation in Canada. Lots of irony: the Indians that know how to get around fast when Europeans are way out of line. Worth watching.
Out of 100, I gave it 82. That's good for *** out of ****.
Seen at home, in Toronto, on April 25th, 2002.
Out of 100, I gave it 82. That's good for *** out of ****.
Seen at home, in Toronto, on April 25th, 2002.
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