Norman McLaren

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Explore the remarkable life of Norman McLaren (1914–1987), the Scottish-Canadian pioneer of experimental animation and film. Discover his biography, innovations, philosophies, and the legacy he left on cinema and art.

Introduction

Norman McLaren (born April 11, 1914 – died January 27, 1987) was a visionary artist, filmmaker, animator, and innovator. While Scottish by birth, much of his professional life and influence was in Canada, where he became a central figure in the National Film Board’s animation studio. McLaren’s work pushed the boundaries of what film could do — he experimented with drawing directly on film, blending visuals with sound, using abstract motion and rhythm, and creating films that are as much visual music as storytelling. Today he is celebrated as a pioneer whose experimental techniques are still studied and admired.

Early Life and Family

Norman McLaren was born in Stirling, Scotland on April 11, 1914. He had siblings: a brother named Jack and a sister, Sheena. At about age 18, he began studies in set design and art at the Glasgow School of Art. It was at Glasgow that McLaren joined the Kinecraft Society, and began experimenting in film and animation techniques.

Because early in his career McLaren lacked access to a film camera, he began drawing directly onto film stock, scratching, painting, and manipulating imagery frame by frame to create animated effects.

He produced early short films in Scotland, including Seven Till Five (1935), depicting a “day in the life” of an art school, and Camera Makes Whoopee (1935), with early animation experiments.

Youth, Growth, and Early Career

In Scotland and the UK, McLaren's early works already showed his fascination with abstraction, rhythm, and movement in film. In the mid- to late 1930s, he worked with the GPO (General Post Office) Film Unit in London (circa 1936 to 1939), producing short films such as Defence of Madrid, Book Bargain, Love on the Wing, and others. During that period, he extended his experimentation — combining animation, trick shots, pixilation, layering, and visual innovation.

In 1939 (or shortly thereafter), McLaren moved to New York, conferred a grant from the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, and continued making drawn-on-film works like Boogie-Doodle, Dots, Loops, Stars and Stripes, among others.

Career and Major Achievements

Joining the National Film Board of Canada

In 1941, at the invitation of John Grierson (himself a major figure in documentary and public filmmaking), McLaren moved to Ottawa, Canada to join the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). At the NFB, he was tasked with establishing an animation studio and training new animators. By 1943, Studio A, the NFB’s first dedicated animation studio, was formed under McLaren’s leadership. He recruited and mentored animators such as René Jodoin, George Dunning, Grant Munro, Evelyn Lambart, and Jim McKay.

At the NFB, McLaren made many experimental and narrative shorts, including works for war effort propaganda (e.g. V for Victory, Hen Hop, Dollar Dance, Tic Tac Toe) and musical/abstract films. He also blended visual motion and sound in more synchronized forms — creating graphical sound (sound made directly from optical film track manipulation) and visuals that “dance” with auditory rhythm.

Signature Works & Recognition

McLaren created over 70 films over his career. Some of his most celebrated works include:

• Neighbours (1952) — a socially conscious anti-war allegory. It won an Academy Award (for Best Documentary, Short Subject) in 1953.

• Blinkity Blank (1955) — a striking abstract animated short; won the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes and a BAFTA.

• Rythmetic (1956) — a film combining abstract visuals and rhythmic motion, aligning to musical logic.

• Pas de Deux (1968) — a more “dance-film” piece, where motion of dancers is manipulated (echo trails, multiple exposures).

• Narcissus (1983) — one of his later works exploring reflection, movement, abstraction.

He also worked in collaborative animated shorts, contributed to the film Christmas Cracker (1963), and produced pedagogical films like Animated Motion (Parts 1–5) to teach animation basics.

McLaren garnered a slew of awards: Oscars, Cannes awards, BAFTAs, festival prizes, and national and provincial honors in Canada. In Canada, his honors included being appointed Officer of the Order of Canada (1968) and later Companion of the Order of Canada (1973). He also received a Prix Albert-Tessier (Québec) in 1982, was awarded an honorary doctorate from Concordia University in 1977, and was named a Chevalier of the National Order of Québec in 1985. Posthumously, his works have been recognized by UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.

Context & Historical Milestones

• McLaren’s work bridges art, experimental film, animation, and the theory of visual music. He treated the film frame as a canvas, not merely a recording device.

• His camera-less techniques were radical: by scratching, painting, or otherwise marking film stock directly, he bypassed the need for conventional photographic capture.

• He also innovated in pixilation (using live actors as frame-by-frame motion subjects), multiple exposures, optical effects, and motion-visual correspondences.

• As head of NFB’s animation, McLaren contributed to training a generation of Canadian animators and established Canada as a world center in experimental animated cinema.

• His film Neighbours, with its social message and visual metaphor, merged artistry and moral commentary; it remains a touchstone in film studies.

• In the later decades, retrospectives, tributes, centennial programs, and digital restorations have reinforced his ongoing influence.

Legacy and Influence

Norman McLaren’s legacy is profound and multifaceted:

• He stands as one of the greatest experimental animators ever, his techniques informing subsequent generations of filmmakers, visual artists, and motion-graphics practitioners.

• His emphasis on synchronization of image and sound prefigured modern approaches to visual music, kinetic graphics, and motion design.

• Many film schools and animation programs still teach techniques (drawing on film, scratch animation, pixilation) inspired by him.

• His influence extends beyond Canada; he is often cited in global experimental film histories.

• The National Film Board named its Montreal head office the Norman McLaren Building, and locales in Montreal (particularly Saint-Laurent) honor his contribution.

• In 2014, his 100th birthday was celebrated with major exhibitions and public projections in Montreal (McLaren Wall-to-Wall) and in Scotland via screenings and events.

• His works were also inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World list, affirming their cultural and documentary significance.

Personality, Vision & Philosophy

McLaren’s work displays a playful rigor: he saw film as art, as abstraction, as motion, as rhythm, rather than only narrative. He was deeply experimental and unafraid to break conventions — pursuing ideas not for commercial gain but for exploration.
His process was often tactile: working directly on film, exploring the relationships of light, color, motion, and sound.
He treated film as a musical instrument: the visuals are notes, the timing is rhythm, the editing is composition.
He embraced abstraction and metaphor: many works do not have literal storylines but evoke feelings, moods, motion, or conceptual juxtapositions.
As a mentor and teacher, he nurtured younger artists — believing in shared craft, in risk-taking, and in pushing boundaries.
He also held convictions politically and socially (e.g. Neighbours expresses anti-violence, humanist ideals).

Selected Quotes & Aphorisms

While McLaren is less quoted in the form of memorable soundbites than prose or interviews, here are a few ideas and remarks attributed to him:

• “In any art movement, the art has to move into a new phase — a filmmaker has a desire to make a film that is not like a previous film.” (paraphrase / attributed)

• His works themselves act as “quotations” of visual-musical philosophy: Rythmetic, Blinkity Blank, Pas de Deux, Neighbours are statements of motion, timing, abstraction.

Because McLaren was a filmmaker-artist more than a public speaker, much of his philosophical voice comes through his films and interviews rather than short, pithy quotes.

Lessons from Norman McLaren

1. See film as art, not just recording
   McLaren’s camera-less techniques challenge us to treat the medium itself (the film strip) as canvas and instrument.

2. Merge image and sound intentionally
   He believed in the deep connection between visual rhythm and auditory rhythm — that visuals should not just accompany sound but interweave meaningfully.

3. Experiment boldly & risk failure
   McLaren’s career is full of trial, error, and radical departures. Innovation often lives beyond comfort zones.

4. Mentor and build community
   His influence is magnified through those he trained and collaborated with, showing the value of sharing knowledge.

5. Let abstraction and metaphor carry nuance
   Some of his most powerful messages are not literal but gestural — inviting viewers to interpret, feel, and reflect.

Conclusion

Norman McLaren occupies a rare space where art, cinema, abstraction, and sound converge. From a Scottish youth scratching on film strips to an experimental legend in Canada, his life demonstrates that vision need not be constrained by technology or convention. His films dance, speak, pulse — they are visual music, philosophy in motion.