EXPO 67 Urbanissimo! By CMHC

Wish I had a picture of the brochure though of course I have it for real!

Timeless story, really? Exciting? Of city growth!

 

(Picture on the front of the brochure)

Old man with cowboy hat, sun and town on train wheels

 

See the life of your time/expo 67 Montréal, Canada, April 28 – October 27, 1967

CENTRAL

MORTGAGE

AND HOUSING

CORPORATION

Urbanissimo!

 

This thoroughly delightful NEW animated film

breathes fresh life and vigor into the exciting,

timeless story of City growth… Proudly

presented at Expo 67 for your enjoyment by

CENTRAL MORTGAGE and HOUSING COR-

PORATION, and Canada’s federal housing agency.

 

“Urbanissimo” and its unique, colourful Expo

home – the “Enchanted City” Theatre – bring

together for the first time the talents of the

internationally known artists and film animators,

Norman McLaren of Canada and John and

Faith Hubley of New York City.

 

In this unusual undertaking, multiple images

by the Hubleys alternate with color experiments

using mobile sculptures created by McLaren –

the whole providing an innovation in theatrical

techniques and modern art forms.

 

[They] have brought their skills to the creation of a warm,

amusing and stimulating film on the formidable

subject of city growth and development. It is

an important commentary on modern urban

civilization. …

 

“Urbanissimo” will leave you laughing and… thinking!

 

Who knew that John Hubley died at 62 years in Febuary 1977 during open heart surgery. And that their films used jazz, in this case, amongst others, with Maynard Ferguson, and Ray Brown on acoustic double bass. It had Benny Carter as composer and Harry “Sweets” Edison on trumpet and Shelly Manne on drums.

     It was under six minutes long and was made in August 1966. This is the first time that the Hubleys worked in Canada.

     And, by CMHC, go figure!

But see for yourself. I found the movie on YouTube and there are more by John (who was blacklisted in the 50s) and Faith Hubley. I haven’t watched them all but I do recommend “Urbanissimo!” At Expo 67 and “Moonbird,” narrated by their two sons and which won an Oscar, and the Sesame Street letters. That last is sure to bring back memories.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=urbanissimo+hubley

 

You can find out more about John and Faith Hubley at   https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=urbanissimo+hubley

And   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hubley

And  https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/90156%7C86023/John-Hubley/#biography       among many many sites.

 

At the Expo lounge website under the Man in the Community / Man and His Health subtitle there is a video tour of those pavilions. The first pavilion is where Urbanissimo! played and there is a bit of that film at the end of the video. There is also interesting information on those pavilions, like the fact that the wooden beams at the top were left open so that when it rained the rain fell into a pond in the middle of the pavilion.

http://expolounge.blogspot.com/2006/08/

Expo 67 opens! Friday, April 28, 1967

Opening day of Expo 67, April 28, 1967  Montréal Canada

From the pictures that we have it was awfully cold that summer. But at seven years it was special for a lot of reasons. And now that I look back, well, the brochures and pamphlets take on a different meaning.

Toronto Star April 28, 1967  

“The cannoncade of fireworks which marked the opening of Expo may in retrospect turn out to have been one of those rare moments that changed the direction of a nation’s history … This is the greatest thing we have ever done as a nation and surely the modernization of Canada – of its skylines, of its styles, its institution – will be dated from this occasion and from this fair. … The more you see of it, the more you’re overwhelmed by a feeling that if this is possible, that is this little sub-arctic, self-obsessed country of 20,000,000 people can put on this kind of show, then it can do almost anything.”

Peter C Newman 

This is a link from Libraries and Archives Canada on everything Expo 67, well not everything

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157686118051626

The start of Expo 67 Notre Dame Park

I've gotten some solace in these times of the pandemic in working on these Expo 67 brochures. I hope you do too.

Some of the descriptions in this guide are pretty funny! And they're funny for different reasons too. 

 

Information Guide

Notre-Dame Park

expo67   Montréal Canada

Welcome to Expo ‘67 and British American Oil’s

Information Centre in Notre Dame Park. We hope

the Centre and the surrounding parkland will

provide a pleasant contrast to the built-up pavilion

areas – a place for relaxation and quiet enjoyment of

natural beauty and exhibits of Canadian wildlife.

No Expo exhibit can take the place of driving the

length and breadth of Canada and seeing its breath-

taking sights for yourself, but we hope you enjoy

this small sample.

[signature]   C. Hay, President

                    The British American Oil Company Limited

In the beautifully land-

scaped park are shrubs,

flowers, wildlife exhibits,

Canadiana designs in the

B-A Information Centre,

exciting bridges, wood

sculptures and a photo

tower offering a panoramic

view of the Seaway and

Expo skyline.

Park Features

Regatta Lake is the setting for a host of interesting

events including championship canoe regattas

arranged by the Canadian Canoe Association…

Water transportation is available with ferries making

regular stops around Regatta Lake; also, “Nowhere”

cruises taking a leisurely route around the shoreline.

Carved and Painted Lino Panels      Thor Hansen

Stylized Animal Illustrations            Jacques Charette

Mother Earth Sculpture                   Madame Suzanne Guite

Don Quichotte Sculpture                 Frere Bergeron

Wildlife

Description

1

Loutre/Otter

These weasel-like animals love to play, chasing

one another, wrestling, tumbling and sliding down

muddy banks. With webbed feet, they are in their

element in the water, feeding mainly on fish but

also small mammals, frogs, insects, snakes and

some birds. They live in holes in the banks of

rivers often wintering under the ice, but will travel

miles overland in search of food.

2

Phoque/Sea Lion

These large Pacific coast mammals are powerful

swimmers, with limbs that have developed

into flippers. Famous for its honking bark,

the sea lion has pointed ears and large eyes.

Males are much larger than the females, which

have only a single pup at a time. Females are

often captured young and trained for circus

work because of their intelligence and fine

sense of balance.

3

Daim a queue blange/Whitetail Deer

Startled, they bound off into the woods with

their tails wagging like signal flags. These graceful

creatures are found throughout Canada east of

the Rocky Mountains, and may even be seen

grazing in woodland areas close to the towns. The

coats of fawns are spotted, but deepen to a rich

chestnut red as the animals reach maturity.

4

Elan/Elk

A large type of deer found mainly in the Rocky

Mountains and other parts of Western Canada,

they prefer semi-open forests spending summers,

in the mountains and winters in the valleys. Large

stags weigh up to 900 pounds, stand five feet

high at shoulders, with antlers sometimes

branching five feet wide. Antlers are shed every

spring, but a new branch is added each year,

making as many as fifteen to twenty points.

5

Bison/Buffalo

The great shaggy buffalo of the plains is the

largest of the wild animals in North America. Big them

bulls may weigh over a ton. Huge herds totaling

60 million animals once roamed the plains. As the

railways pushed west, bison were slaughtered for

food, hides, bones, sport, and were nearly

exterminated. Now protected on reservations, their

numbers have increased to several thousands.

6

Chien des prairies/Prairie Dog

These small reddish-brown rodents live in burrows

on the prairies. Each borough leads from an

entrance on high ground to a series of chambers

below. Large communities sometimes band

together, creating underground cities of several

acres. With an abundance of food and the

decrease of their natural enemies such as snakes,

wolves, and birds of prey, their population growth

it’s causing problems in some areas.

 

More to come from this guide ...