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Paddle to the Sea (Released by Janus Films, in association with the Criterion Collection) 
Director : Bill Mason (II)
Studio : Criterion Collection
by Criterion Collection
Brand : Image Entertainment
Release Date : 2008-04-29
Publisher : Criterion Collection
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 0715515029025
UPC : 715515029025
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 13 reviews)
List Price : $14.95
Our Price : $9.43
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Product Description |
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Based on Holling C. Holling's beloved Caldecott-awarded children's book William Mason's stunning film follows the adventures of a tiny wood-carved canoe as it forges its own path from Lake Superior through the Great Lakes and down to the Atlantic Ocean. Buoyed by beautiful photography and a sense of true wonder about the sun Earth and water the Academy Award-nominated Paddle to the Sea is an unforgettable tribute to the forces of the natural world as well as a thrilling journey across the waves and rapids of North America.System Requirements:LENGTH: 28 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 715515029025 Manufacturer No: CC1748DDVD |
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Americancivilwar.com |
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Paddle to the Sea, the short film named after the carved wooden toy boat it tracks through various waterways from Canada to the Atlantic Ocean, is Canadian director William Mason's sweet homage to the 1940s children's book. Like The Red Balloon, Paddle To The Sea folklorically portrays a toy's journey, with a bit of added personification since the whittled boat contains a stoic Native American man carved into its seat. The film begins in a Nipogon log cabin, where a boy laments releasing his newly crafted artwork but soon realizes that setting his toy free is the only way to enliven it. After pouring molten lead into the boat's base to encourage its floating upright, and writing "I am Paddle to the Sea: Please Put Me Back in the Water" on the boat's underside, he drops the boat into a snowy stream and hopes someday it will reach the ocean. Beyond the film's wise message of non-attachment, wonderment is sustained throughout while trying to guess how Mason managed to track this swift-sailing canoe down river rapids, through industrially polluted waterways, and even over Niagara Falls. Fortuitous shots of animals investigating the boat as if to eat it seem almost pre-planned. Cameras strapped onto rafts, lowered down cliffs by rope, and more enabled the director to follow the toy in close-up, as if he were filming a wildlife documentary. Narrated from an omniscient point of view by a man with a soothing storyteller's voice, Paddle to the Sea is a lullaby to tranquility that entertains with simple charm and clever wit. --Trinie Dalton |
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A Mythic Story about Journeys |
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This is the kind of film that works its way into your subconscious. A boy carves a small wooden canoe with one wooden passenger...an all-watchful Native American...and sends the small craft into a frozen lake so that it can journey thousands of miles to the ocean. To keep the canoe afloat, the boy pours a bar of lead into the bottom of the canoe. "I am Paddle to the Sea" the boat tells us. The film tracks its journey past frogs, deer, and snakes, past ice and storm, even past the rushing currents of Niagara Falls. A few individuals fish it out of the water but on seeing the instructions (carved on the bottom of the boat) they wisely return the craft back into the lake or stream from whence it came. Thus, the canoe returns to its mysterious source. This is a fine contemplative film that makes us meditate on our own personal journeys, our own attachments, and our own connection to the living world (After all, the canoe started out as part of a tree). In a 21st century world where too many children's films are violent or meaningless, this is a perfect gift for youngsters five and upwards. |
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Just as I remembered it |
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Great little story. Just as I remembered it from my childhood. Great DVD to share with your kids. |
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Quaint children's documentary, lovingly restored |
This 1966 children's documentary from Canada -- concerning a child's toy canoe that slowly wends its way to the sea -- was shot in grainy 16mm with a mono soundtrack. Most likely it will never look or sound better than it does in this spiffy new Janus Film/Criterion DVD. Viewers who expect a Dolby stereo track on this disc will be disappointed; Criterion views unauthorized stereo remixes as a violation of authorial intent.
PADDLE TO THE SEA offers plenty of jaw-dropping nature footage that will leave you wondering just how director Bill Mason did it. But the narration may be too pedantic and the pace too deliberate for today's youngsters. No extras here, except for some well-written liner notes. |
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Is this a Children's film? |
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This beautiful little film is a miracle of photography and imagination. I bought it for grandchildren and I hope they will enjoy it in years to come. Criterian and Janus films seem to be promoting Paddle, The Red Baloon, and White Mane as children's films but I wonder how many will find the time in between the Shreks, Ants, Cars, and Incredibles, etc. Nevertheless I congratulate Criterian for making these little gems available and recommend them highly. |
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A classic...immediately took me back to my childhood |
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I grew up attending elementary school in Milan, Michigan in the early 1970s. Once a year, our class would pack into our tiny cafeteria to see a classic filmstrip: Paddle-to-the-Sea. This short film has been restored way better than I ever got to experience it back then. An excellent teaching primer, and just enjoyable to reminisce to. I've shared it with my daughter, who is now in first grade, and she really enjoyed it. |
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