Norman McLaren (April 11, 1914-January 27, 1987) was a Scottish animator and film director known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada. In 1968 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and promoted to Companion in 1973.

McLaren was born in Stirling, Scotland where he studied design at Glasgow School of Art and made his first experiments with film and animation. After finishing his studies in Glasgow and making a few films in London, McLaren’s moved to New York in 1939, just when the Second World War was about to begin. In 1941 he was invited to Canada to work for the National Film Board, to open animation studio and to train Canadian animators. During his work for the NFB, McLaren created his most famous film Neighbours (1952), which have won many prizes around the world including the Canadian Film Award and the Academy Award. Besides the brilliant combination of visuals and sound, the film has a very strong social message against violence and war. McLaren is famous for his experiments with image and sound as he developed a number of groundbreaking techniques for combining and synchronizing animation with music.

External links

• NFB Page