Small Star Cinema (partially found series of Nelvana live-action/animated shorts; 1974-1975)
The logo art for Nelvana.
Status: Partially Found
Small Star Cinema is a series of live action/animated shorts that aired on CBC between 1974-1975. The series was produced by Nelvana, known for producing many animated shorts and series such as Care Bears (1980s), The Fairly OddParents (until 2005), Inspector Gadget, Medabots (English dub), etc.
Premise
Small Star Cinema was made up of one short that was produced either in live-action or animated. Each short segment begins with an animated character purposefully walking into a spotlight. The show ran between 15 and 30 minutes.
Production
In the early 1970s, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (also known as CBC) brought on Nelvana to produce Small Star Cinema.[1][2] According to Clive Smith one of the co-founders of Nelvana and a voice actor on the show said,
There wasn’t much happening in animation in the days before computers and special effects. There was a lot of room for creativity and alternative ideas.[1]
During the recording of one short, Mr. Pencil Draws the Line, Smith dressed up in a red pencil costume and ran around a city, as he ended up playing with children at a Toronto hospital. During one scene, a random man screamed and chased Smith (who was still in the pencil costume) down a street.[1] Small Star Cinema was directed by Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert and aired on CBC between April 12th, 1974, to May 24th, 1975. The series was later adapted to a Christmas special titled Christmas Two Step that aired around Christmas 1975.
Availability
As of December 2019, 10 episodes of the show have been documented online, but no footage has resurfaced since.
On January 17th, 2020, YouTuber unpopulararts uploaded the full Mr. Pencil Draws the Line short on YouTube from a home transfer of its 16mm original, rendering it found.
Shorts
| # | Episode Title | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waltz in Mounted Time | Lost |
| 2 | Birds of Music | Lost |
| 3 | Wild Goose Chase | Lost |
| 4 | Mr. Rubbish's Children's Tour of the Big City | Lost |
| 5 | Smile-A-Day | Lost |
| 6 | The Happy Chalk Dog | Lost |
| 7 | Zounds of Music | Lost |
| 8 | Mr. Pencil Draws the Line | Found Found by unpopulararts |
| 9 | Battle of the Alphabet | Lost |
| 10 | The Great Ciccillo | Lost |
Gallery
External Link
- Wikipedia article on Small Star Cinema. Retrieved 06 Jan '20
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kidscreen article about Nelvana's 30th-anniversary profile, which mentions Small Star Cinema. Retrieved 12 Nov '17
- ↑ A pdf file about Nelvana, which has information on Small Star Cinema. Retrieved 12 Nov '17