| The Romance of Transportation in Canada | |
|---|---|
 Title frame | |
| Directed by | Colin Low |
| Written by | Guy Glover |
| Produced by | Tom Daly |
| Narrated by | Guy Glover |
| Cinematography | Lyle Enright |
| Edited by | Kenneth Heeley-Ray (sound) |
| Music by | Eldon Rathburn |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | National Film Board of Canada |
Release date |
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Running time | 11 minutes, 20 seconds |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
The Romance of Transportation in Canada is a 1952animated short film made by theNational Film Board of Canada.[1] Part of the postwarCanada Carries On series, it offers a humorous account of the history oftransportation in Canada. The film was directed byColin Low and produced byTom Daly.
The Romance of Transportation in Canada featured animation byWolf Koenig andRobert Verrall and was narrated byGuy Glover.Eldon Rathburn composed the film score. It was the first NFB animated film to be nominated abroad,[2] and the first to be nominated for anAcademy Award in animation.[3]
Throughout its history, transportation in Canada was fraught with difficulty especially looking atCanada's vast distances and natural obstacles such as forest, mountains and rivers. Eventually these obstacles were met with unique solutions, beginning with Canada'sFirst Nations whose canoes allowed for transport over inland waterways. Early pioneers faced the same problems but with largerbateau, cargo could be hauled over longer distances on water. On land, the use of ox-drawn carts became the means to cross rough terrain until stagecoaches were introduced.
With the advent of steam power, and the construction of theTrans-Canada Railway finally the great distances of Canada were overcome. In the early 20th Century, the internal combustion engine then made the next step forward for modern travel with the proliferation of automobiles, aircraft, and even "flying saucers" to come.
The film was a product of the NFB's Unit B production team.[4]The Romance of Transportation in Canada marked the NFB’s first major foray into industrial animation, influenced not by the auteur style of NFB animation studio founderNorman McLaren, but by theUnited Productions of America (UPA) style.[5]
The Romance of Transportation in Canada was produced for television broadcast onCBC Television. Individual films were distributed worldwide by the NFB and were also made available to film libraries operated by university and provincial authorities.[6] A total of 199 films in theCanada Carries On series were produced before the series was canceled in 1959.[7]
Canadian film critic Dean Duncan reviewedThe Romance of Transportation in Canada and considered it one of Colin Low's finest works. "Here, the title lettering is really cool, the ox is a great character, the snow sections are beautiful, you might even say authoritative. That overhead prairie shot looks real."[8]
