Norman McLaren Movies

Images supered on a revolving barrel.

An ordinary-looking chair refuses to be sat upon.

In 1966, McLaren began a metamorphic film in which he explored the light and colour of Canada in this unfinished film.

An attempt to animate an abstract Charlie Chaplin-esque figure.

This 1967 footage shows McLaren at a computer with Evelyn Lambart, Rene Pardo and two other technicians, followed by the animation test some call...

Made during WWII

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

Unfinished animated film, 1940s. Silent film.

An unfinished animated short from the late 1950s.

Early abstract 3d stereoscopic animation by Norman McLaren collaborator Gretta Ekman.

In Là-haut sur ces montagnes, Mclaren used for the first time a chain-of-mixes (chiaroscuro) on a pastel-drawn landscape. The idea for such a...

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

In this film Norman McLaren uses puppets, diagrams, animation and live-action to present an anti-war message for use by peace organizations.

In this fourth film, Norman McLaren explains and illustrates composite motion, where two of the categories of motion occur simultaneously in one...

An animated film drawn entirely in pastels. Various fantastical plant-like things "grow" from the ground, eventually launching five spheres. The...

"Là-haut sur ces montagnes" sung by Madeleine Lachance is illustrated with drawings and in "C'est l'aviron" a boat sails to the rhythm of the...

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...

In this fifth part, Norman McLaren deals not with motion (if motion is defined as a change of location in two- or three-dimensional space) but with...

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