Paddle to the Sea; The Red Balloon; White Mane

Three essential, transcendent short films—a delight for young and old—are now available for the first time on DVD. The most celebrated of the trio is Albert Lamorisse's Academy Award-winning The Red Balloon (1956), which was for years a staple in public and school libraries on 16mm film, becoming—as the accompanying booklet points out—"the largest-selling non-theatrical print in American history." The director's adorable son Pascal stars as a Parisian who is befriended by a stray balloon in a reverie that is shattered by cruel bullies—but the charming story soars to new heights in the fantastic finale. Lamorisse's b&w White Mane (1953) captures another remarkable friendship between a young fisherman and a "proud and fearsome" horse who eludes all attempts to capture him. Director Bill Mason's Paddle to the Sea (1966), based on Holling C. Holling's Caldecott award-winning picture book, follows a carved Indian-in-a-12-inch canoe (inscribed with the message: "I am Paddle-to-the-Sea; please put me back in the water") on an incredible journey from Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. All three films capture the essence of visual storytelling with minimal dialogue (White Mane includes optional English narration by Peter Strauss), and while these classics are more leisurely paced than contemporary shorts, most viewers will be thoroughly engaged by the deceptively simple stories that offer glimpses of different cultures. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (D. Liebenson)