Nichola Dobson - Norman McLaren: Between the Frames

NORMAN McLAREN

For Jonny, Alvy & Luka

Animation: Key Films/Filmmakers

Series Editor: Chris Pallant

Titles in the Series:

Toy Story: How Pixar Reinvented the Animated Feature edited by Susan Smith, Noel Brown and Sam Summers

Princess Mononoke: Understanding Studio Ghiblis Monster Princess edited by Rayna Denison

Norman McLaren: Between the Frames by Nichola Dobson

NORMAN McLAREN

Between the Frames

Nichola Dobson

Bloomsbury Academic

An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Contents

Chapter 1
PERSONAL LIFE

Chapter 2
STIRLINGS SONS

Chapter 3
WORLD TRAVELLER

Chapter 4
INFLUENTIAL ARTS

Chapter 5
COLLABORATIONS

Chapter 6
A COMPLICATED MAN

All permissions courtesy of University of Stirling, unless otherwise stated.

I would like to thank the following people who have made this book possible: my husband, Jonny, without whose support I would never have been able to complete this work, and my family and friends for their unending patience while I relayed Norman McLarens stories after each research trip. I would like to thank Karl Magee, archivist at the University of Stirling for all his wonderful help and support over the last seven years this book would not have been possible without him (and the universitys amazing archive); and also his colleagues Sarah Bromage and Jane Cameron for their encouragement and help. At Edinburgh College of Art, thanks go to my colleagues, Glyn Davis for his continued support and help and coffees) and Jonny Murray, Alan Mason, Neil Kempsell and Jared Taylor for their advice over the last four years. I would also like to thank David Lloyd Glover for the great information and images of his uncles. Thanks to Donald McWilliams for the extra bits of information, access to Creative Process and the encouragement. Thanks also to Iain Gardner for sharing the McLaren legacy journey. I would also like to acknowledge my friends in the Society for Animation Studies for their continued support and excellent and inspiring work. Finally thanks to my editor Chris Pallant and the team at Bloomsbury for their guidance and patience.

Born on 11 April 1914, Scottish animator Norman McLaren was celebrated on his centenary in Scotland and his adopted homeland of Canada in 2014. As one of the founding members of the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada, McLarens prolific output over a forty-year career makes him one of the better-known artists to have worked there. His biography is available on their website and in particular, promoted in his centenary year.

That his name is well known in the context of the NFB is of some significance as is his part in the history of animation, but less so in any history of Scottish filmmaking. He is certainly less well known in Scotland, though much of the centenary has attempted to address this with some success.

What is commonly known of his biography is his love of music and dance, his early life at the Glasgow School of Art, his move to London at the invitation of fellow Scot John Grierson (a significant figure throughout his life), a move to New York and then his post at the NFB where he would settle and remain for the rest of his career and life. This information is widely available on several websites and is covered in much detail in a number of key texts such as the Don McWilliams 1990 documentary, Creative Process and the 2006 Terence Dobson monograph, The Film Work of Norman McLaren.

This book takes a very different approach to the more traditional chronological biography. It was felt that the most common or obvious information was already widely available and as such any repetition of this should be avoided. Likewise, traditional biographical formats may work for some subjects, but when the research uncovered a wealth of McLarens own correspondence, it made sense to let him speak in his own words. Not strictly a collection of letters then, this book uses excerpts from correspondence in some of the key moments of McLarens life, organized thematically to try and capture a sense of his own feelings and explore more about the people, places and experiences which undoubtedly affected the content of his forty-year filmic output. He was a pioneer in many aspects of his practice (and personal life) and this book should allow the reader to delve into much of this from McLarens own perspective.

Note

A series of events were held across Scotland, including a birthday party with a plaque unveiling in his family home; two gallery exhibitions; screenings as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival; collaborative workshops; school workshops and academic symposia.