The Sweater

Roch Carrier recalls his childhood during the winter of 1946. He idolizes Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadians. With his favorite sweater too small, his mother writes to Eaton's in french for a new sweater. Instead of a Montreal Canadians sweater, a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater arrives. His mother forces him to wear it. It's a disaster.

It's an iconic Canadian short story adapted into an iconic animation. It hits on two iconic Canadian themes. The most obvious is hockey. It is the national soul. The second theme is the friction between the francophones and anglophones. The animation is primitive but that actually helps in creating a timelessness about the story.

Having been raised in Canada, I saw this short many times mostly on the CBC. I have seen it numerous times, at many ages in my life, and each time the reactions are the same. It is a joyous bittersweet, beautifully animated film that tugs at your heart. I am sure I have it on some VHS tape somewhere digging around.

Every kid growing up can relate to the situation, and wanting to fit in with your favourite idols. The scene and look on the kids face when his mom is filling out the Eatons catalogue and his jumping around the room is priceless. I haven't seen someone capture that carefree mood of youth on film as well as this little short has.

Sure I am a Montreal habs fan, and that makes my appreciation for it more special. But in the end it is the nostalgic look and feel of pond hockey, and the memories of your family telling you that you should be greatful for what you get even if it isn't exactly what you wanted. And oh yeah, the animation is beautiful too ;)

Rating 10 out of 10

This movie made by the NFBC was made in honor of the Montreal Canadians dynasty years in the 50's,60's and 70's. My 5th grade teacher played this in class in honor of my 11th birthday in 1987 and also to celebrate my return from a serious facial injury in 1986. I have been a Canadians fan for 29 of my 30 years of life. on a scale of 1-10, I give this film a 117. All hockey fans should see this as I hope it will be placed in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and shown at the Bell Centre in Montreal or here in Edmonton at Rexall Place. Watch this film with your family it is a great movie. I also recommend the book in both French and English. Go Habs Go.

A boy who adores Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens receives, much to his horror, a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater in the mail. I recently watched this in a class in which few of the students were interested in hockey, but nearly everyone knew about Maurice Richard and the Toronto/Montreal rivalry. Highly entertaining, amusing, and accurate.

I was able to catch this short on Cartoon Network's "O Canada" series. The story of the young boy who wanted the sweater of the Canadiens but ended up with a Maple Leafs one instead makes it endearing to young and old alike. From this observer's perspective of Canada "Hockey is Life" as shown with the 2002 Olympics (or equivalent tournament), the 1972 Series against the Soviet Union hockey team, Hockey Night in Canada on television/radio, and the Stanley Cup tournament. This could easily take place in any city in the world and with any sport, be baseball, football, basketball, soccer, etc.

If you are a hockey fan (or that of any other game, or just like animated shorts) this is one clip that should not be missed. I'm American, from California, a hockey fan, and can relate to this Canadian gem. The story transcends sport. As noted in an earlier comment, it would be much akin to the Yankees fan who instead gets a Red Sox jersey (or vice versa), the Giants fan who ends up with that of the Dodgers, etc. If you follow soccer in Europe the Liverpool fan ends up with an Everton shirt, or the Manchester United fan ending up with the Manchester City, and so forth. "O Canada" isn't on Cartoon Network that much nowadays, but if you hear about it anywhere don't miss this animated film.