Evelyn Lambart Shorts

The Lion and the Mouse is a classic fable that highlights how huge contributions can come from unexpected places, that a kindness is never wasted, and that even when you’re the king of the forest, you can be in need of help.

This 1976 version of the story was created by National Film Board technical director and ‘First Lady of Canadian Animation’ Evelyn Lambart in her signature style: “…paper cutouts transferred to lithograph plate which she would then paint and animate.”

In this short animation by Evelyn Lambart, a greedy little blue jay carries away whatever his beak can grasp. Berries, birds’ eggs (nests and all), and even the sun in the sky go into his secret cache. Nothing is safe from his consuming avarice. But, as in Lambart’s film Fine Feathers, there is a moral tucked away. The blue jay learns a lesson about the importance of sharing, and he and his friends are all the merrier for it.

Canadian animator Evelyn Lambart is celebrated for her trailblazing contributions to animation and her beautifully illustrated work with cut outs of construction paper and painted zinc. In 1942, she was the first woman animator to join the National Film Board of Canada where she worked for more than 25 years. The Hoarder, shown above, was created in 1969.

Fine Feathers (1968)

From Evelyn Lambart, renowned Canadian animator and technical director with the National Film Board of Canada, this is Fine Feathers, a 1968 cut paper animation about two rival birds that trade their plumage for green cedar and red oak leaves. Of her beautifully illustrated animation work, Lambart said:

“I loved to do the whole job myself, you know, figure out what you need to tell your story, and then to make it myself, to design the character and paint it and draw it and then to sit under the camera and move it. I did all the shooting myself too. I used to hope I was making films that were simple enough for children but still interesting to adults.”