Evelyn Lambart

In this extraordinary short animation, Evelyn Lambart and Norman McLaren painted colours, shapes, and transformations directly onto their filmstrip. The result is a vivid interpretation, in fluid lines and colour, of jazz music played by the Oscar Peterson Trio.

Development in long-range travel and the growing importance of the Arctic and Antarctic regions make it necessary to understand how maps may be misleading. Experiments with a grapefruit illustrate the difficulty of presenting a true picture of the world on a flat surface and it is concluded that the globe is the most accurate way of representing the earth.

Early abstract 3D film by animation master Norman McLaren and collaborator Evelyn Lambart.

The story of the settlement of Canada, illustrated with cheerful animated cartoons. The arrival of Jacques Cartier, the fishing and fur trades which followed, and the rival colonization by the French and British, climaxed by the battle of the Plains of Abraham, are depicted. The coming of the United Empire Loyalists is seen; then the west-coast gold rush and the completion of the transcontinental railway. New branches were added to the family tree when many European settlers came to fill the great spaces of the Prairies. Finally, we see the whole country matured into a nation, its traditions enriched by those of many peoples.

This 1967 footage shows McLaren at a computer with Evelyn Lambart, Rene Pardo and two other technicians, followed by the animation test some call Birdlings. McLaren found computers still too primitive for his needs and continued to explored the optical printer in Pas De Deux, Synchromy and Narcissus. Silent film.

Animation pioneer Evelyn Lambart recalls arriving at the NFB in the 1940s, her celebrated collaborations with Norman McLaren and her approach to her solo work.

This film probes the perennial miracle of the growth of a seedling, the seasonal upsurge of life in a forest giant, and the mysterious alchemy of a single leaf. Presented in magnified dimension through time-lapse photography and animated diagrams, a maple leaf and segments of a tree serve to illustrate the physiological processes that go on in all plants.

An ordinary-looking chair refuses to be sat upon.

Two duelling birds get the urge to change their plumage. A blue jay wants to be decked out in the green of cedar, and a loon dons the burnished red of oak leaves, but neither bird foresees the consequences of vanity.

An experiment in pure design by film artists Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart. Lines, ruled directly on film, move with precision and grace against a background of changing colors, in response to music specially composed for the films.

This short animation by artist and animator Evelyn Lambart offers a wordless plea for the right of all living creatures to a clean, unpolluted environment. With rich colour and intricate animated motion, the film features birds, butterflies and other woodland creatures succumbing to air pollution caused by human inventions.

In this short film by animator Evelyn Lambart, a handsome frog courts and wins a mouse for his bride. The colourful animation does full justice to the events that take place during and after the wedding breakfast. Sung by Derek Lamb to lute accompaniment.

A man sets a ping-pong ball into motion and it becomes fruitful and multiplies.

A color cocktail by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart, translating into moving patterns of color and light the moods of music written for a jazz ensemble by Eldon Rathburn. Inscribed and colored directly on film.

Pinscreen animation makes use of a screen filled with movable pins, which can be moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the side so that the pins cast shadows.

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

This very short stereoscopic film by Evelyn Lambart uses drawings to suggest movement across Canada’s ever-changing countryside.

A greedy little blue jay carries away whatever his beak can grasp. Berries, birds' eggs (nests and all), and even the sun in the sky go into his secret cache.

This animated short by Evelyn Lambart is a visual adaptation of the famous Aesop fable "The Lion and the Mouse," in which a mouse proves to a lion that the weak and small may be of help to those much mightier than themselves.

On a blue background, a series of numbers (1 to 5) begin to appear, forming simple arithmetic equations that create a pattern. Numbers and symbols move as the pattern grows, to a soundtrack of simple beats.