Grant Munro (filmmaker)

Grant Munro (filmmaker)
Grant Munro LL. D. (April 25, 1923 – December 9, 2017) was a Canadian animator, filmmaker and actor. In 1952, he co-starred with Jean-Paul Ladouceur in Norman McLaren's Neighbours. His film, Christmas Cracker, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1965.
Early life
Munro was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After graduating from Gordon Bell High School, he went to the
Musgrove School of Art and the Winnipeg School of Art. In 1944, he graduated with honors from the Ontario College of Art and joined the National Film Board (NFB) in the same year.
Career
Munro's work as an animator first won notice during 1945, when he set the songs "My Darling Clementine" and "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" to animated cut-outs. He left the NFB in 1947 to work with another company, returning in 1951, in time to perform the physically demanding role of one of the neighbours in Norman McLaren's Neighbours, a film which used the technique known as "pixilation" (a term coined by Munro) and which won both a Canadian Film Award and an Academy Award. In 1957, he moved to London to work as Director of Animation for George Dunning's TV Cartoons; he returned to the NFB in 1961. In 1970, he moved to Cuba and, for two years, worked for the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos.
Munro collaborated with McLaren on the animated films Two Bagatelles (1952), Christmas Cracker (1963) and Canon (1964). In the 1970s, his focus shifted to documentaries. He directed: Tours en l'air (1974), a film about work of dancers Anna-Marie and David Holmes; Boo Hoo (1975), which concerned a cemetery and crematorium in Saint John, New Brunswick; and Animated Motion (parts 1–5, 1976–8) and McLaren on McLaren (1983), which documented the work and philosophy of his friend and colleague. He also directed See You in the Funny Papers (1983), which examined the life and work of cartoonist Lynn Johnston.
Munro retired from the National Film Board in 1988. He died in Montreal on December 9, 2017, at the age of 94.
Honours
On June 20, 2007 Concordia University awarded Munro an honorary doctorate in recognition of his legacy for generations of filmmakers.
On October 10, 2008, Munro was made an Officer in the Order of Canada by Governor General Michaëlle Jean. The backgrounder to the award read as follows:
Grant Munro is a pioneering animator and filmmaker. One of the earliest and longest-serving members of the National Film Board of Canada, he developed innovative techniques that influenced both the film industry and other animators. He produced films that were used as public education tools in schools across Canada, and collaborated with the Montreal Children’s Hospital to create educational films for children with learning disabilities. As well, he was involved in making several award-winning film's and has been an inspiring role model and dedicated mentor to several generations of young filmmakers.
Grant Munro Rediscovered
On December 4, 2003, the Museum of Modern Art paid tribute to Munro with Grant Munro Rediscovered, a retrospective program of his work:
On the occasion of Grant Munro’s eightieth birthday and the release of a new DVD, Cut-Up: The Films of Grant Munro, the Museum of Modern Art pays tribute to this seminal but under-recognized animator. Working from within the historic Animation Unit of the National Film Board of Canada from 1945 through the early 1970s, Munro directed, produced, shot, edited, and even acted in some of the most significant hand-drawn and pixilated animation ever made. A frequent collaborator with Norman McLaren, Munro brought a wicked wit and sublime grace to the art.
In 2003, a DVD of his work entitled Cut-Up: The Films of Grant Munro was released. It includes two Munro-McLaren collaborations which they did not complete: On the Farm and Six and Seven Eighths.
Filmography
Director and/or Producer,
Animator
Let's All Sing Together: No. 3 - animated short, Norman McLaren 1945 - co-animator with René Jodoin
Let's All Sing Together: No. 4 - animated short, Norman McLaren 1945 - co-animator with Jim MacKay and Jean-Paul Ladouceur
Let's All Sing Together: No. 5 - animated short, Norman McLaren 1945 - co-animator with Jean-Paul Ladouceur
Let's All Sing Together: No. 6 - animated short, Norman McLaren 1945 - co-animator with Jean-Paul Ladouceur and René Jodoin
The Three Blind Mice - animated short, George Dunning 1945 - co-animator with George Dunning and Robert Verrall
Stanley Takes a Trip - animated short, 1947 - co-animator with Helen MacKay, co-director with Helen MacKay and Jim MacKay
Christmas Carols - animated short, 1947 - co-animator
Two Bagatelles - experimental film, 1952 - co-director with Norman McLaren
Neighbours - experimental film, Norman McLaren 1952 - cast
One Little Indian - puppet film, 1954 - director
Huff and Puff - animated training film, Graham Crabtree 1955 -co-animator with Gerald Potterton
The Standard Range Approach - training film, Michael Birch and René Jodoin 1957 - animator
My Financial Career - animated short, Gerald Potterton 1962 - co-animator with Gerald Potterton
Pot-pourri - montage, 1962 - co-director with Jeff Hale, Derek Lamb, Austin Campbell, Kaj Pindal, Cameron Guess and Rhoda Leyer
What Farm Price Support Means to You - documentary short, Ernest Reid 1962 - animator
Christmas Cracker - animated short 1963 - co-director with Norman McLaren, Gerald Potterton and Jeff Hale
Seven Surprizes - compilation 1963 - co-director with Norman McLaren, and Claude Jutra
Canon - animated film, 1964 - co-producer and co-director with Norman McLaren
The Animal Movie - animated short film, 1966 - animator, co-director with Ron Tunis
Toys - documentary short, 1966 - producer, director
Ashes of Doom - short film, 1970 - editor, co-director with Nadia Salnick
Where There's Smoke - compilation, 1970 - co-director
General Health - documentary short, 1970 - co-director with Břetislav Pojar and Don Arioli
Nutrition - documentary short, 1970 - co-director with Břetislav Pojar and Don Arioli
Percy Saltzman Anti-Smoking Clip - documentary short, 1971 - co-director with Don Arioli
Tour en l'air - documentary short, 1974 - co-editor, producer, director
Boo Hoo - documentary short, 1975 - director
Animated Motion: Part 1 - instructional film, 1976 - co-producer and co-director with Norman McLaren
Animated Motion: Part 2 - instructional film, 1976 - co-producer and co-director with Norman McLaren
Animated Motion: Part 3 - instructional film, 1977 - co-producer and co-director with Norman McLaren
Animated Motion: Part 4 - instructional film, 1977 - co-producer and co-director with Norman McLaren
Animated Motion: Part 5 - instructional film, 1978 - co-producer and co-director with Norman McLaren
McLaren on McLaren - documentary short 1983 - director
See You in the Funny Papers - documentary short, 1983 - co-editor, producer, director
Awards
One Little Indian (1954)
Rapallo International Film Festival, Rapallo, Italy: Great Cup of the Province of Genoa, 1956
Rapallo International Film Festival, Rapallo, Italy: First Prize & Silver Medal, Abstract Films, 1956
National Committee on Films for Safety, Chicago: First Prize, Bronze Plaque, Traffic & Transportation, 1955
Golden Reel International Film Festival, Film Council of America, New York: Recognition of Merit, 1955
Kootenay Film Festival, Nelson, British Columbia: Certificate of Merit, Second Award, Artistic Achievement, 1955
7th Canadian Film Awards, Toronto: Honorable Mention, Non-Theatrical, 1955
Pot-pourri (1962)
14th Canadian Film Awards, Toronto: Award of Merit - Filmed Commercials (Public Service), 1962
Christmas Cracker (1963)
Golden Gate International Film Festival, San Francisco: First Prize, Best Animated Short, 1964
Electronic, Nuclear and Teleradio Cinematographic Review, Rome: Grand Prize for Technique, Films for Children, 1965
Electronic, Nuclear and Teleradio Cinematographic Review, Rome: Grand Prize for Animation Technique, 1965
Film Centrum Foundation Film Show, Naarden, Netherlands: Silver Squirrel, Second Prize 1966
Philadelphia International Festival of Short Films, Philadelphia: Award of Exceptional Merit, 1967
Landers Associates Annual Awards, Los Angeles: Award of Merit, 1965
37th Academy Awards, Los Angeles: Nominee: Best Short Subject – Cartoons, 1965
Canon (1964)
Montreal International Film Festival, Montreal: First Prize, Best Animated Film, 1965
3rd International Film Festival of India, New Delhi: Bronze Peacock, Second Prize, 1965
17th Canadian Film Awards, Toronto: Genie Award for Best Film, Arts and Experimental, 1965
The Animal Movie (1966)
Venice Film Festival, Venice: Second Prize, Plaque of the Lion of St. Mark, 1966
La Plata International Children's Film Festival, La Plata, Argentina: Silver Oak Leaf, First Prize, 1967
Zlín Film Festival/International Film Festival for Children and Youth, Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia: CIDALC First Prize 1967
Toys (1966)
La Plata International Children's Film Festival, La Plata, Argentina: Silver Medal, 1968
Ashes of Doom (1970)
International Festival of Short Films, Philadelphia: Award for Exceptional Merit, 1971
Tour en l'air (1974)
American Film and Video Festival, New York: Blue Ribbon, Performing Arts, 1975
Melbourne Film Festival, Melbourne: Diploma of Merit, 1975
Animated Motion (1976)
Athens International Film/Video Festival, Athens, Georgia: Special Merit Award, 1978
See You in the Funny Papers (1983)
Athens International Film/Video Festival, Athens, Georgia: Special Merit Award, 1984
References
External links
at the National Film Board of Canada
Watch films by Grant Munro at NFB web site
Making Movie History: Grant Munro (interview)
Officers of the Order of Canada
Canadian animators
Artists from Winnipeg
Film directors from Winnipeg
Canadian documentary film directors
1923 births
2017 deaths
National Film Board of Canada people
Stop motion animators