Cut-Up: The Films of Grant Munro

Watching the collection of shorts assembled in this package, it's tempting to ask who was Grant Munro? Was he an animator, actor, editor, storyteller, dancer, comedian, or provocateur? The answer is that at various times during his long association with the National Film Board of Canada, he inhabited all of those personas, and more. Often working in conjunction with fellow NFB genius Norman McLaren, these 13 short films find Munro pushing the limits of animation. A traditional-looking effort such as Three Blind Mice starts with black-and-white cutouts and a familiar nursery rhyme before spinning a cautionary tale of industrial workplace safety wherein viewers discover how the mice became blind in the first place. In Toys, as children stand agog at a toy store window, action figures recreate gory scenes from the Vietnam War, conjuring up a sense of both the commercialization of violence and the spoiled innocence of youth. Most interesting, though, are the films that star Munro, featuring the slender, graceful performer as the centerpiece for a series of animated cels. Seen in flipbook-style stop-motion animation, Munro defies the laws of physics as he flies through the air like a hummingbird (as in On the Farm) or ice skates on a freshly mowed lawn (in Two Bagatelles). A wonderful collection of often politicized animated films--including the Oscar-winning 1952 Munro/McLaren Cold War fable Neighbours--this double-disc set also features audio interviews with Munro discussing his life and work with animator John Canemaker and Milestone Film & Video's Dennis Doros, as well as flipbooks and a stills gallery. Highly recommended. (D. Fienberg)