My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts

Last updated
My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts
My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts.jpg
Directed by Torill Kove
Written byTorill Kove
Produced byLars Tommerbakke
Marcy Page
Narrated by Mag Ruffman
Music byKevin Dean
Production
companies
Running time
10 minutes
CountriesCanada
Norway
LanguageEnglish

My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts is a 1999 animated short by Torill Kove.

Contents

Summary

Co-produced by Marcy Page of the National Film Board of Canada and Lars Tømmerbakke of Studio Magica in Norway, the film humorously recounts a tall tale about the filmmaker's grandmother in Oslo, Norway, during World War II, who actually ironed the shirts for Norway's King Haakon VII for many years.

Production

My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts was Kove's first film with the NFB. It began as a screenwriting exercise for a class at Concordia University, where Kove had been enrolled. She then pitched the film to producers at the NFB, including its eventual NFB producer, Page. As is the case with her subsequent animated shorts, the musical score for My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts was composed by Kove's husband, Kevin Dean. [1] The film is narrated by Mag Ruffman.

Reception and legacy

Awards for the film included a special prize from the Hiroshima International Animation Festival and a Golden Sheaf Award for best Animation. [2] The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 72nd Academy Awards. [3] [4] It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows.

Adaptation

In May 2017, the NFB and Canadian publisher Firefly Books announced that the film would be adapted into a children's book. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Film Board of Canada</span> Public film and digital media producer and distributor

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and alternative dramas. In total, the NFB has produced over 13,000 productions since its inception, which have won over 5,000 awards. The NFB reports to the Parliament of Canada through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. It has bilingual production programs and branches in English and French, including multicultural-related documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman McLaren</span> Scottish Canadian animator (1914–1987)

William Norman McLaren, LL. D. was a Scottish Canadian animator, director and producer known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He was a pioneer in a number of areas of animation and filmmaking, including hand-drawn animation, drawn-on-film animation, visual music, abstract film, pixilation and graphical sound. McLaren was also an artist and printmaker, and explored his interest in dance in his films.

The history of Canadian animation involves a considerable element of the realities of a country neighbouring the United States and both competitiveness and co-operation across the border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Larkin</span> Canadian animator, artist, and sculptor

Ryan Larkin was a Canadian animator, artist, and sculptor who rose to fame with the psychedelic Oscar-nominated short Walking (1968) and the acclaimed Street Musique (1972). He was the subject of the Oscar-winning film Ryan.

<i>The Danish Poet</i> 2006 Norwegian film

The Danish Poet is a 2006 animated short film written, directed, and animated by Torill Kove and narrated by Liv Ullmann. A co-production of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Mikrofilm AS of Norway, it has won both the Academy Award and Genie Award for best animated short film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torill Kove</span> Norwegian-Canadian animator and film director

Torill Kove is a Norwegian-born Canadian film director and animator. She won the 2007 Academy Award for Animated Short Film for the film The Danish Poet, co-produced by Norway's Mikrofilm AS and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cordell Barker</span> Canadian animator

Cordell Barker is a Canadian animator, director and screenwriter based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He began animating in his late teens after taking on an apprenticeship at Kenn Perkins Animation. A two-time Academy Award nominee, Barker is an animation filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

<i>The Cat Came Back</i> (1988 film) 1988 Canadian film

The Cat Came Back is a 1988 Canadian short animated comedy film by Cordell Barker, produced by fellow award-winning animator Richard Condie in Winnipeg for the National Film Board of Canada. It is based on the children's song "The Cat Came Back" by Harry S. Miller. It was in theaters with Touchstone's Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Ushev</span> Bulgarian animator and filmmaker

Theodore Asenov Ushev is a Bulgarian animator, film director and screenwriter based in Montreal. He is best known for his work at the National Film Board of Canada, including the 2016 animated short Blind Vaysha, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He is a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Potterton</span> British-Canadian animator and director (1931–2022)

Gerald Potterton was a Canadian director, animator, producer and writer. He is best known for directing the cult classic Heavy Metal and for his animation work on Yellow Submarine.

The Sand Castle is a 1977 stop motion animated short created by Co Hoedeman for the National Film Board of Canada. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 50th Academy Awards.

Sandra M. Macdonald is a Canadian film and television executive. She has also held important administrative positions with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animation Show of Shows</span>

The Animation Show of Shows is a traveling selection of the year's best animated short films. It is curated and presented by Acme Filmworks founder Ron Diamond. The show began in 1998 with the aim of showing the most original, funny, and intelligent short animated films from all over the world by presenting them to major animation studios, in hope of inspiring their influential animators and directors. Since 2007, a number of the films have been released as DVDs.

<i>Wild Life</i> (2011 film) 2011 Canadian film

Wild Life is a 2011 Canadian animated short film by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis. The film debuted at the 2011 Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto in June 2011 and online on January 6, 2012. The film was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 84th Academy Awards, and Best Animated Short Subject at the 39th Annie Awards as well as a Genie Award for Best Animated Short at the 32nd Genie Awards.

Patrick Doyon is a Canadian animator and illustrator, based in Montreal, Quebec.

Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis are a Canadian animation duo. On January 24, 2012, they received their second Oscar nomination, for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) animated short film, Wild Life (2011). With their latest film, The Flying Sailor, they received several nominations and awards, including for the Best Canadian Film at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, and on January 24, 2023, they received a nomination for the 95th Academy Awards under the category Best Animated Short Film.

<i>Me and My Moulton</i> 2014 film

Me and My Moulton is a 2014 Canadian-Norwegian animated short film written and directed by Torill Kove. It premiered at the 2014 Annecy International Animated Film Festival on 10 June 2014. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 87th Academy Awards. Me and My Moulton won the Golden Sheaf Award for Best Animation at the 2015 Yorkton Film Festival.

Marcy Page is an American animator, film producer and educator.

<i>Blind Vaysha</i> 2016 Canadian film

Blind Vaysha is a 2016 animated short by Theodore Ushev, produced by Marc Bertrand for the National Film Board of Canada, with the participation of ARTE France. Based on a story by Georgi Gospodinov, the film tells the story of a girl who sees the past out of her left eye and the future from her right—and so is unable to live in the present. Montreal actress Caroline Dhavernas performed the narration for the film, in both its French and English language versions. The film incorporates music from Bulgarian musician and composer Kottarashky and is his and Ushev's fourth collaboration.

<i>Threads</i> (2017 film) 2017 film

Threads is a Norwegian-Canadian animated short film, directed by Torill Kove and released in 2017. Based on Kove's own experience as an adoptive parent, the film depicts a woman who catches a thread in the sky which carries her to a baby girl, whom she rears and remains connected to with a red thread of love and emotional connection until the girl is a young woman old enough to go seek her own thread of connection to a baby of her own.

References

  1. Everett-Green, Robert (20 February 2015). "Filmmaker Torill Kove would like more love for animated shorts". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  2. "My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts". Film Collection. National Film Board of Canada. 1999. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  3. Animated Short Winner: 2000 Oscars
  4. 2000|Oscars.org
  5. "From screen to page: National Film Board of Canada forays into book publishing". Winnipeg Free Press . The Canadian Press. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.