The NFB launch new animated web-series “The Great List of Everything”
In anticipation of spring break, all thirteen episodes of The Great List of Everything, a new National Film Board of Canada-produced webseries directed by Cathon, Iris Boudreau and Francis Papillon, has been released online in full and free of charge.
Based on the French-language comic book La liste des choses qui existent, the animated adaptation
“features artists Cathon and Iris, two curious and quirky young women who share their unbridled passion for everyday objects, from swimsuits to microwave ovens, in a wacky world that will make you both laugh and think—whether you’re young or just young at heart”.
Featuring the voices of Angela Galuppo and Cat Lemieux, the web series was produced by the NFB with La Pastèque in collaboration with Télé-Québec.
Cathon and Iris are inseparable. One likes to show off her knowledge, the other enjoys sharing off-the-wall theories. The two friends’ quirky humour and wild, free-floating imaginations will make you want to learn more about the objects that surround us. Travel with them through history as they explain the origins of such things as the lightbulb or pants. But don’t believe everything you hear.
As a writer, illustrator and graphic novelist Cathon’s prior work includes The Pineapples of Wrath, Vampire Cousins and Comme des géants (Mimose et Sam). Writer/illustrator Iris Boudreau has published several comic books including Folk, Justine, Le pouvoir de l’amour and the André series. The Great List of Everything is their first animated production. Co-director Francis Papillon’s filmography includes the shorts Un sacré mariage, Larry de la buanderie, Clara, and Aspirations as well as the animated web series Ahchiouta’a.
The year 2011 was the dawn of comic strip blogs. We two admired each other from afar, and we left complimentary comments on each other’s blogs. We eventually met IRL and decided to start a joint blog to get to know each other better. And that’s how the blog La liste des choses qui existent was born. It was the first incarnation of our interest in the history of things, beginning with their invention and progressing to personal anecdotes about them, featuring our alter egos. This blossomed into a very real and great friendship. We had a blast doing the project, and it resulted in two comic books published by La Pastèque in 2013 and 2015, with a complete volume coming out in 2018. The books were a hit, and La Pastèque approached us to adapt La liste into the web series The Great List of Everything. It was a great idea, since the book was already there in the form of short vignettes. We were super-excited to get a chance to work with the NFB and Télé-Québec, and, most of all, to work together again. We had published storyboards for years, but this was our first animated series, and we learned so much about the limitations and challenges involved in this kind of production. We were fortunate to work with a team of passionate, thorough perfectionists who were generous with their time and support. It was a truly memorable experience—one that we hope will open the door to other exciting projects. As we said to each other when La liste was completed, “I think our work is NOT done here…”
— Iris and Cathon
When I was asked to co-direct the web series The Great List of Everything, I was absolutely thrilled! Not only was I already a fan of the comic book, but Cathon and I had developed a bond during our time together studying visual arts at CEGEP. I was excited to have the opportunity to work with these two incredibly talented women, and I jumped at the chance. As the co-director specializing in animation, my main job was to preserve the world of Iris and Cathon, to maintain their sense of humour and their graphic style, and above all to make sure that the friendship between the two characters remained at the core of the series. I hope the series will make you laugh, make you think, and perhaps pique your curiosity about the world around us.
— Francis Papillon
Watch the full playlist for The Great List of Everything below: