Norman McLaren and the UNESCO Memory of the World Registry


It was announced last week that the complete works of Norman McLaren has been added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Memory of the World Registry.

This is huge news, people.

It means that films like Neighbours, Boogie Doodle and A Chairy Tale will live among Anne Frank’s Diaries, the Gutenberg Bible and the original manuscript of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

According to the UNESCO website, the Memory of the World Registry was created to “guard against collective amnesia” and ensure the wide dissemination of valuable archive holdings and library collections from around the world.

McLaren is recognized as a pioneer in the field of animation, and to understand why simply watch Neighbours,  a brilliant film (and commentary) from 1952:

I *love* the bit with the baby…

If you want to dig a little deeper, check out our McLaren archives. You can even catch a glimpse of the slippers he used to wear when he worked here.