Paddle to the Sea (1966) User Reviews

What a treat!

[Varlaam · 9/10 · 12 November 1998]

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!)

A Great Little Story That's Fun For Kids & Senior Citizens

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 23 May 2008]

This was a nice little half-hour movie, which reminded me a bit of another film of similar length that was popular 50 years ago: The Red Balloon. "Paddle To The Sea," made 42 years ago, never got the publicity or achieved the popularity of "The Red Balloon" but if you liked the latter, you'll like this. I enjoyed them equally.

This is a Canadian movie which begins by showing a boy whittling this amazing piece of work: an Indian - very stoic looking - sitting in his canoe. On the side of the boat, he asks that anyone who handles this piece of art, "please throw it back in the water." The boy decides to let this boat go as far as it can in the water. Although he lives on a mountain, he knows once the ice of winter melts, the boat will slide down the steep hill into a small creek and then into a river, into a bigger river and, hopefully, all the way to Atlantic Ocean.

We (the camera) follow the progress of this little toy boat through several seasons, some human contact, some contact with sea creatures and birds. The little boat navigates down small rivers, rapids, whirlpools, big rivers, small lakes, big lakes, canals....you name it.

Unlike most of the reviewers here, I never saw this movie as a kid. I am only seeing it now as a 60-year-old man, but I enjoyed it as much as any kid. This is "good stuff" that should appeal to anyone.

Creates long lasting memories

[dnsx100 · 8/10 · 1 June 2006]

I saw this film in second grade and have remembered it all these years. I have been searching the internet for it, I thought it was called Indian in the Canoe. I am so happy to finally have figured out the name. The movie has created a long lasting memory for me and I wish to share it with my child. The Red Balloon is another great film that is soon to be available on a popular DVD rental site, in case anyone is interested. I hope to buy a copy of Paddle to the Sea to share with my child soon. I suggest anyone and everyone who is interested in independent films and who enjoy shorts to watch this immediately. I think more schools should take the time to show timeless treasures as these instead of the typical cartoon of the month. Maybe more kids would grow up interested in real film instead of just the usual blockbuster. Thanks for listening.

A True Classic, still holds up after 30 years!

[Stanton Remmington · 10/10 · 13 October 2002]

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!

A beautiful story

[icreeem · 10/10 · 29 November 2006]

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!

PADDLE TO THE SEA {Short} (Bill Mason, 1966) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 28 February 2014]

I honestly did not quite know what to expect from this one – yet another Oscar-nominated Canadian short – despite being aware that it was released on DVD by none other than Criterion; however, I must confess that I was genuinely surprised by how compelling the simple plot line emerged here! In fact, what we have is a small boy living in a cabin up in the snowy woods who, unable to get to the open sea himself, carves a wooden boat – with a Native American for a 'navigator'! – and sets it on its way downstream. Optimistically, he leaves written – for whoever may come into contact with the 'vessel' – that it be allowed to keep the undertaken course! One would never have surmised the sheer amount of incident that could befall such an inconspicuous 'protagonist' – indeed, rarely has an inanimate object acquired so much personality by being made the centre of attention! – as various animals (squirrel, snake, frog, deer) are rendered curious by it, people covet it (a small boy, flanked by an amusingly recalcitrant dog, and a lonesome lighthouse attendant), while numerous other elements (fire, water currents, pollution, a real ship) endanger its very existence. All told, a very nice little film which I will now gladly add to my collection (albeit via an ulterior source)!

Awesome Film of Landscape and Spiritual Metaphor

[CaptVic · 9/10 · 21 September 1998]

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.

Good, but fails to capture the magic of the book

[zbum · 6/10 · 12 June 2011]

It's hard for me to evaluate this movie without comparing it to the book which I found mesmerizing as an 8-year old. I'm not trying to say that the movie has to be an exact replica of the book -- in fact I liked some of the liberties taken in the movie like the scene with the boy and his dog. However, there was an essence to the book that I didn't think the movie captured - the passage of time and the hardships that paddle faced along the way. Yes, the narrator talks about this, but it doesn't really come across in the movie - perhaps because it's only 28 minutes. Still, I think that if directed differently, this feeling could have been stronger. Finally, the ending of the book that reconnects Paddle with his creator was more fulfilling than the ending of the movie.

A film that will stay with you

[dbborroughs · 8/10 · 8 August 2009]

Hand carved Indian in a canoe makes its way from the wilds of Canada to the sea.

Simple short film telling a simple story has haunted me since I saw it on a rainy Saturday at a local museum which programed films for kids on the weekend. There were three or four films shown that day, but this was the only one that has stayed with me. There is something about it that has haunted me. I know the tale has made some of my friends squirm since they argue nothing happens and that there are no real characters, but they are missing the point, the point is the journey and the adventure of it.

I really like the film a great deal and highly recommend it-especially for kids (and adults) with a sense of adventure.

Paddle to the Sea

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 6 April 2024]

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...?

hand carved canoe sees adventure on its way to the ocean

[owen-8 · 10/10 · 15 December 1999]

A wonderful short that has been a standard in schools for years. It is about life and adventure and we all feel a need to support "paddle" as he heads for the sea."Look out of the snake, paddle!". Wonderful memories that have stayed with me all these years. Lets hear it for the National Film Board that supported the creation of such gems.

Read the book!

[ronman-4 · 4/10 · 11 September 2006]

I'm a fan of Holling C. Holling's picture books for children, so I borrowed the Paddle-to-the-Sea video from our public library. We had read the book slowly over several months as a geography/science study in our school, so I had hoped the video would enrich our understanding by showing us vivid shots of the places Paddle visited. The photography was good, as far as it went, but overall, I was disappointed. I guess I was expecting a documentary-type film that would give us a sense of visiting the actual settings. However, the scenes that were used didn't give us that sense of being there. Furthermore,the plot was simplified--many scenes were left out, diminishing the value of the story.

Everything about it was so simplified that it seemed aimed for young kids. To top it all off, my students (ages 6-14) were not drawn into the movie at all. They all enjoy a good work of art, but this didn't catch their attention.

Read the book instead for a wonderful story that includes detailed information about the Great Lakes and answers the kind of questions kids ask. Holling C. Holling studied a wide array of subjects to make his books into treasure chests of knowledge and this book, unlike the film, will whet kids' appetites to learn.

A story that warms a boys heart for life

[dave-britt · 9/10 · 8 March 2012]

I saw the movie back in 1969 at a summer camp when it first came out. I was just a young boy of just eight years of age. Memories of this movie have stayed with me my entire life. Having not read the book the movie on its own caries its self very well. The commentary is well done. The scenes are natural that the character "Paddle" would see on its journey through the Great Lakes System. It is interesting the solitude and a loneliness that is portrayed as the seasons go by. This movie has always made me want to do something similar as the Native boy did with Paddle as well. Show it to your kids ages six through twelve. I think it would be enjoyed thoroughly by them. Nice, clean in that old fashioned way.

have a voyage

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 20 March 2020]

The Academy Award-nominated "Paddle to the Sea" follows a canoe replica sailing across the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. This was probably one of the first productions to address pollution, shown as the replica passes through Detroit. In the end, it's a nice, clever short that people of all ages will like. Enjoy!

Did you see the ocean...

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 9/10 · 21 August 2017]

I really loved this superb little short, and I'd never even heard of the original book so I had no mental comparisons between the two bugging me. I was so enchanted and moved by its simple yet beautiful story, it gave me a certain warm childhood reminiscence of when I used to play with toy figures and a boat that I made out of Lego that I'd sail down kerb streams and such on rainy days until I lost it down a drain one day.. I didn't get it back but thankfully there was no Pennywise! So I found it a pretty engaging sea adventure, with the wonderfully carved and painted boat strangely feeling like a character that you really fear for getting stuck on a branch, or claimed as a plaything by some oblivious child or crushed between ice flows, or even made part of a silly beaver's dam! I love the way all the adults in the story that come into contact with Paddle to the Sea are unselfish enough to respect the engraved wish of its maker and return it to the water to continue its lonesome little voyage. It felt very metaphorical in nature, you could easily project your own meaning interpretation upon the boat, being it representing the hope of a child, preservers against impossible odds to reach a distant dream.. I see it as representing the heart and soul of childhood and how the wonder of that special innocent time should never be confined but allowed to flourish and embark on its endless and fantastic adventure into the wild beyond! Really interesting and magical short, I was so moved, it deserves to be seen by little kids of today. I believe that this lovingly crafted and serious minded short film and really all of the classic fairy tales and modern fables like it will always have a special place and will be waiting to be rediscovered and loved as long as there are children and those with the hearts of children who still want them. X

A Slightly Dated Classic. Still Watchable, Though Maybe Not As Magical.

[ArmandoManuelPereira · 5/10 · 23 July 2020]

Of course, growing up in the early seventies, this movie was practically a rite of passage. I loved it as a child! Now it serms slightly dated and less magical. Yet, its watchable and thankfully short. I would reccomend at least one viewing as it is an important and classic NFB production.