Grant Munro

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. 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 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;

Munro retired from the National Film Board in 1988.

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.

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