National Film Board of Canada puts its archives online, free

Posted by Cory Doctorow, January 22, 2009 2:29 PM |

Andrew sez, "The National film Board of Canada (NFB) has opened up its vault - more than 700 films, clips and trailers are now available on the film board's new website launched today. From entertaining shorts and cartoons, to deeply moving or disturbing documentaries - they're all there for free, with more being added every week."

Hell yes. This is how public money should be spent. And yes, they have The Big Snit, my all-time favorite NFB short.

Films : All - NFB (Thanks, Andrew!)

Previously:
Favorite this! ( 35 )
Send
Older Free MOO Card holder for Boing Boing readers
Newer Black light tattoo of a skeleton

Discussion

Take a look at this
#1 posted by dragonfrog , January 22, 2009 2:37 PM

Your choice of The Big Snit as the illustrative example is clearly the correct one.

Take a look at this
#2 posted by mbobich , January 22, 2009 2:38 PM

Time to make my own Boards of Canada album.
If ya don't know who that is, lookemup.

Take a look at this
#3 posted by TJ S , January 22, 2009 3:06 PM

I don't mean to harm you, and I won't.

The End

Take a look at this
#4 posted by Anonymous , January 22, 2009 3:14 PM

Wow, I completely forgot about this!
Awesome!

Take a look at this
#5 posted by btb , January 22, 2009 3:17 PM

This is great!

I'd like to especially call attention to Norman McLaren's masterpiece, Begone Dull Care - a 1949 animation McLaren made by painting directly onto the film, music by Oscar Petersen Trio.

Take a look at this
#6 posted by arkizzle , January 22, 2009 3:21 PM

Brilliant!

Way to show the way NFB!

Take a look at this
#7 posted by Takuan , January 22, 2009 3:27 PM

The Ballad of Crowfoot

Take a look at this
#8 posted by Chris Spurgeon , January 22, 2009 3:31 PM

In my family that ecstatic hand gesture that the guy makes when he realizes it's 2 o'clock and therefore time for "Sawing For Teens" is THE de-facto signal we all make when we're thrilled by something geeky. Wonderful!

Take a look at this
#9 posted by Loony , January 22, 2009 3:31 PM

WTF! I can't even smoke during a total nuclear war?

Those anti-smoking nazis have gone to far!

How is it that I've gone through over 40 years without having seen "The Big Snit" until now?

Take a look at this
#10 posted by pauldrye , January 22, 2009 3:33 PM

STOP! SAWING! THE FURNITURE!

Take a look at this
#11 posted by Takuan , January 22, 2009 3:36 PM

QUIT SHAKING YOUR EYES!

Take a look at this
#16 posted by Anonymous , January 22, 2009 3:47 PM

Its wonderful that all of these films are now freely available on the net now; I can remember watching a lot of these, (along with the "short circuitz" clips that used to played on YTV) during my childhood.

If you like the Big Snit, check out "Mindscape", "The Sand Castle", or "Blackfly". Great Stuff.

Take a look at this
#21 posted by teknocholer , January 22, 2009 4:03 PM

Damn, Takuan, I was just about to say Blackfly, since Paul567 beat me to Log Driver's Waltz. Is there no Wade Hemsworth left for me to spread the word about? Anyway, good work, NFB. My tax dollars were never better spent.

Take a look at this
#22 posted by bazzargh , January 22, 2009 4:06 PM

Oh, nice. This is much better than their old site (which had just the animation archives up in a non-streaming quicktime format IIRC)

Anyway my pick:
http://www.nfb.ca/film/blackfly/

Take a look at this
#23 posted by Lis Riba , January 22, 2009 4:21 PM

Unfortunately, I don't see one of my favorites: "What on Earth!" by Les Drew and Kaj Pindal.

This Oscar-nominated 1966 animated short is credited to the National Film Board of Mars, a 'documentary' explaining what scientists have been able to glean from their first glimpses of life on the third planet.

Anyone else have fond memories of this short?

Take a look at this
#24 posted by sinclair_mckay , January 22, 2009 4:41 PM

When "Not a Love Story" makes it up then the archive will be complete. I predict that the archive will never be complete.

Take a look at this
#25 posted by Daemon , January 22, 2009 4:50 PM

It's all about Canada's other national anthem: http://www.nfb.ca/film/log_drivers_waltz/

Take a look at this
#26 posted by bazzargh , January 22, 2009 4:52 PM

Lis Riba: Over on twitter, @thenfb say they have 14000 films in the archive, the 700 up so far are just the start, and they'll be adding more each week. You could ask them if its coming?

Take a look at this
#27 posted by marley88 , January 22, 2009 4:55 PM

I love The Big Snit. It's so great to be able to watch all our favorite Canadian shorts online. Lots of good shorts still coming from Canada today... One example is the animated short contest going on at www.superu.ca

Take a look at this
#28 posted by virginia cynic , January 22, 2009 4:57 PM

try nahanni if you think that you have ever worked hard or taken a tough wilderness trip/hike canoe etc
just 18 mins

Take a look at this
#29 posted by spike55151 Author Profile Page, January 22, 2009 5:20 PM

My vote is for "HIGH STEEL":

http://www.nfb.ca/film/high_steel/

....and what a delightfully distracting post! I could /did/ spend hours there! WELL DONE!

Take a look at this
#30 posted by btb , January 22, 2009 5:38 PM

HOLY SHIT
Pas De Deux (http://www.nfb.ca/film/pas_de_deux_en/) is more trippy, more amazing, and more beautiful than I remembered. Have a glass or two of wine, turn out the lights and put this one on.

Take a look at this
#31 posted by paperfingers , January 22, 2009 5:41 PM

Hey I've been working on the site with the NFB web team here for the last year or so.

Here's a list of the upcoming films for the next few months. They are mostly determined by rights, etc.

Thanks for the shout-out, Cory, and all the great comments, everyone!

Matt

Take a look at this
#32 posted by gr00veNU , January 22, 2009 5:58 PM

this totally makes up for us having a completely useless parliament...

Take a look at this
#34 posted by Alys Author Profile Page, January 22, 2009 7:13 PM

This is fantastic!
As a kid, some of my favourite memories of elementary school were when the teacher would put a reel of film on the projector and we'd watch a cartoon from the NFB. I'm pretty sure I saw The Sweater at least once a year (usually around playoff season), and the Log Driver's Waltz used to show up on TV on a pretty regular basis.

Take a look at this
#35 posted by peter_van , January 22, 2009 7:21 PM

http://www.nfb.ca/film/Hunger/

That one is a trip. Also, awesome.

Take a look at this
#36 posted by Anonymous , January 22, 2009 7:24 PM

Okay, "The Big Snit" is truly classic, but where's "Bob's Birthday"? Between this and "Bob and Margaret" not being released properly on DVD, I'm seriously bummed. Hopefully soon they will show again!

Take a look at this
#37 posted by eustace , January 22, 2009 7:30 PM

If we are sharing the ones we have enjoyed, than I shall stick to the Truth.

Take a look at this
#38 posted by Uncle_Max , January 22, 2009 7:30 PM

Nuclear war - take cover under a refrigerator.

Was this how Lucas came up with that brilliant escape for Indiana Jones?

Take a look at this
#39 posted by isopraxis , January 22, 2009 7:45 PM

If you haven't seen Murray Siple's Carts of Darkness you're missing out on something that may change your perspective of shopping carts forever.

Take a look at this
#40 posted by dragonfrog , January 22, 2009 8:30 PM

BTB - thanks for pointing out Begone Dull Care! If music videos were like this, I might actually watch them from time to time.

I'd love to see that one in a higher fidelity format - there were parts where it felt like all I was seeing were compression artifacts.

Take a look at this
#41 posted by Kabur Naj , January 22, 2009 8:38 PM

Sweeeeet! (Can a CBC Radio archive be far behind? Pretty please?)

Cory (and other fans of early film comedies) take note: The Railrodder, which is listed in Matt's (@#30) list of upcoming releases for February, was one of Buster Keaton's final movies and hearkened back to his silent film days. The film is distinctly Canadian in that it features Keaton riding the CP rail tracks straight across Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

As for what else I'll be looking out for, there's really so much to list:
--> Any animations by: Richard Condie, Cordell Barker, Torill Kove, Ryan Larkin, etc.
--> Other bits of animated Canadiana: The Hockey Sweater, Blackfly, Log-driver's Waltz, etc.
--> The cheesy films that I remember seeing in school: Hinterland Who's Who, The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes, Tara's Mulch Garden, etc.

But what I'm really looking forward to is finding gems among all the other films that I've never seen before.

Take a look at this
#42 posted by Takuan , January 22, 2009 8:45 PM

Paddle to the Sea

Take a look at this
#43 posted by minTphresh , January 22, 2009 9:00 PM

rilly?this is where 'Paddle to the sea" comes frum? wow! i wonder if they have the "blaze glory" shorts...those were the ones with stop-motion guys on motorcycles/horses that seem invisible. hilarity ensued. and didn't they do the animated " radical ideas threaten societies and then become societies which are threatened by radical ideas...." cartoon. pure awesomesauce!

Take a look at this
#44 posted by obscurica , January 22, 2009 9:38 PM

I sure would like to see "Ride For Your Life" get released.

It features some unique music by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, not available anywhere else. It's not an amazing film, but the music is worth hearing.

Here's more info on the Mother's recording engagement:
http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/videography/Ride_For_Your_Life.html

Take a look at this
#45 posted by Takuan , January 22, 2009 9:49 PM

well, they have about 700 online now, there are 14,000 on file, email them with your picks. Maybe they will listen.

Take a look at this
#46 posted by gentlevillage , January 22, 2009 10:06 PM

This is wonderful. I haven't seen "The Big Snit" in over fifteen years. My favorite childhood cartoons were some NFB animation shorts from a VHS my dad bought on a family trip to Vancouver when I was a little guy.
Good job, Canada!
Good job, boingboing!

Take a look at this
#47 posted by Bevin , January 23, 2009 12:41 AM

So many of my family's sayings come from The Big Snit! I am so happy to see my favourites online! I haven't seen many of these since childhood!

(Please excuse the overuse of exclamation points. I have just finished laughing 'til I cried while watching The Big Snit for the first time in years.)

Take a look at this
#48 posted by jansolnicka , January 23, 2009 2:22 AM

thank you very much for the link. there are wonderful vids on that site.

Take a look at this
#49 posted by takeshi , January 23, 2009 3:45 AM

Many of David Cronenberg's early films were sponsored by the NFB. I really hope that Rabid ends up here, as it's one of his creepiest efforts.

Take a look at this
#50 posted by Ugly Canuck , January 23, 2009 5:24 AM

So when will the US Library of Congress/AMPAS make their old stuff free to view on the web?

Take a look at this
#52 posted by movalator , January 23, 2009 6:48 AM

For me it was always 'The Sweater'

http://www.nfb.ca/film/sweater/

Take a look at this
#53 posted by z7q2 Author Profile Page, January 23, 2009 9:42 AM

Hope they get this one up soon:

http://www3.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/index.php?id=10659

This predates (and inspired) the Ken Burns effect. The images used in the film were taken on glass plates, and were recovered from a greenhouse in the Yukon that were using them as windows.

Take a look at this
#54 posted by farrellmcgovern , January 23, 2009 10:12 AM

Unfortunately, as was pointed out to me...Canada's NFB has simply become a repository for past glory. Once one of the most innovative film and animation studio in the world, now only provides us with these timeless, but old classics.

Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that this stuff is now available like this, but I do mourn the death of the initiative that created these wonderful film and animation classics.

ttyl
Farrell

Take a look at this
#55 posted by Takuan , January 23, 2009 10:22 AM

OK, here's an easy-to-become timeless waiting for a documentarist with minimal funds: Tomslake, Canada.
A tiny community torn by bombings, police stupidity, corporate greed, life and death, bribery,neighbor against neighbor, death of the hinterland, environmental rape - a metaphor for the planet. Go on, tell me I'm wrong.

Take a look at this
#58 posted by changescat , January 23, 2009 11:35 AM

AAACK! I am so happy about this news. It's awesome to see everyone listing their faves. Actually, the extent to which I quote "The Big Snit" and "Getting Started" in daily life is surprisingly a lot.

Take a look at this
#60 posted by Anonymous , January 23, 2009 1:07 PM

@2:

Boards of Canada has its archives put online, free

(NB: only long out-of-print/never-issued stuff on that torrent, as far as I can tell. Nobody's getting paid, nobody's getting ripped off either)

Take a look at this
#61 posted by Panpan , January 23, 2009 10:26 PM

Like others here, my favorite is Pas de Deux http://www.nfb.ca/film/pas_de_deux_en/

It's one of the most beautiful things I ever saw.

Take a look at this
#62 posted by paperfingers , February 4, 2009 7:42 AM

Update: The Railrodder starring Buster Keaton (which was mentioned above) is now online:

http://www.nfb.ca/film/railrodder/

Take a look at this
#63 posted by elk , February 5, 2009 3:11 PM

PSYCHED to hear such a nod to the big snit. I favorite since I first saw it during an animation festival back in the 90s.

"you're always SHAKING your eyes!"

Post a comment

Anonymous