Paddle to the Sea

Until this evening, I believe the last time I saw this film was in our Wolf Cub pack, around 1969 or '70. Tonight I was tickled right through all over again. The scene of the building of Paddle to the Sea was still familiar even after all this time. It's amazing how they were able to anthropomorphize that heroic little piece of carved wood.

This film should reinforce the spirit of adventure in any child. The selfless actions of the secondary characters shouldn't be discounted either.

(Kids aren't likely to notice the occasional geographical shortcut, such as Niagara Falls being adjacent to Detroit!)

I remember seeing this at elementary school in around 1973. I was delighted to later find the book, and enjoyed it just as much. I wanted to carve my own Paddle To The Sea so my Dad gave me a block of cedar and I whittled it down to Paddle On A Plank and the damn thing would float upside down! I didn't understand about ballast, but someone found this carving abandoned in the reed of the nearest pond and kept it and promptly forgot about it...this was a friend who lived down the street. Thirty years later we were talking about the pond and it reminded him to tell me about finding the carved little character. We went out to his shed and found it! So I have it still, a very crude, amateur carving of what actually resembles more a wolf on a raft than Paddle To The Sea! But at least I never forgot how fascinating the story was for me. Excellent!

I saw this film the first time as a youngster, while I was still living in Canada. I'm guessing it was about 1972, and I think we saw it as a part of our Geography class. We all groaned when we discovered the film was made by the C.B.C., we knew then it must be drab and boring. But, as the film unfolded, we found ourselves more and more captivated by the little wooden Indian in his canoe. And before we knew it, we were cheering after each trial and tribulation he encountered, and when the movie ended, a mere 28 minutes later, we groaned again...."it's over, already?!". Even after 36 years, this film holds up today as it did in 1966, it's warm, bright, fun, and totally captivating. I totally recommend this little bit of Canadiana to everybody!

When a lighthouse keeper spots a small wooden boat in the water, he imagines it's journey from the fireside of the young man who carved it all the way down stream, facing obstacles both natural and man-made before it reached him. This canoe has but one passenger, a rather formidable looking native, and both have clearly seen some wear and tear with all the original decoration eroded by it's travels and now only the instructions to "put me back in the sea" still visible. The carving is used as a charming conduit to follow the river, lakes and locks as it travels many thousands of miles to the sea. Niagara Falls, threatening propellors, enthusiastic fishermen, curious children. All are encountered by "Paddle" en route and with a simple narration and score, this is quite a gently engaging travelogue with a difference. Maybe it's trip is not finished yet, either...?

As a gradeschooler, we were made to watch a film one day. That film changed my outlook on life significantly. Of course, that film was "Paddle to the Sea."

This is an outstanding look at the Canadian wilderness; and the journey of the boat of as much a symbol of the human condition as anything Shakespeare penned.

I have not seen the film since I was a child. I have ordered it from the Canadian Film Board. Wow, I can't wait to remember what every soul knows deep inside.