In 1966, Bill Mason released his acclaimed live-action short film Paddle to the Sea with the National Film Board. The Oscar-nominated film became a fixture for Canadian children in schools for decades. This is the story of that film. 📸 NFB 🧵1/10

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Paddle-to-the-Sea was a children's book written by Holling C. Holling and published in 1941. Set in Ontario, it followed a wooden model of a First Nations man in a canoe released into Great Lakes so it can eventually reach the ocean. 🧵2/10

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Bill Mason, Canada's patron saint of canoeing, had released three short acclaimed films about canoeing from 1958 to 1964. In 1965, he adapted Paddle-to-the-Sea into a short film. The film was produced by the National Film Board. 📸 NFB 🧵3/10

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While the story begins near Lake Nipigon, the launch scene was shot in Ottawa's Gatineau Park. Mason also shot a staged forest fire scene at Meech Lake by burning trees he planted along the shoreline. He was assisted by the local fire department for the scene. 📸 NFB 🧵4/10

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Mason and colleague Blake James didn't have permission to film the canoe going over Niagara Falls. To film it, James cast the boat into the water while Mason rappelled down to the water's edge to film it. Mason personally carved several canoes for filming. 📸 NFB 🧵5/10

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