Paddle to the Sea Released by Janus Films in association with the Criterion Collection DVD with Paddle to the Sea (NR) +Movie Reviews

Holling Hollingsworth and Paddle to the Sea

nanne lynn | Indio, ca United States | 11/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As an English teacher, I am so sorry to read the negative reviews of the two young people. I am in awe of Hollingsworth's ability to tell a good story for students. I own his books, albeit worn and well-read, and I am buying this film for my grandson, so I hope it is the one I saw when I was doing my PHD in children's literature in the early 1970. I have never forgotten the story. Perhaps our young people today are used to blood and guts, and fail to understand there is sweetness in life, too. I love Paddle to the Sea."

Not to be missed

Roland Chrisjohn | Canada | 02/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Paddle to the Sea" is the story of a carving of an Indian in a canoe that is placed in the snows of upper Lake Superior, and which has as its goal reaching the Atlantic ocean. A legend written on the carving asks that anyone who finds him please put him back in the water. His passage through lakes, locks, and rivers is depicted in scenes of great beauty alternating with scenes of industrialization and pollution. Whether or not Paddle to the Sea will make it keeps arising as an issue, and the original beauty of the carving degrades as it traverses seemingly insurmountable barriers. This is a movie that MOVES you... an emotional experience as gripping as any, done with simplicity and without dialogue. It should not be missed."

A beautifully-restored children's classic.

G. Merritt | Boulder, CO | 03/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Janus films is releasing three newly-restored classic children's films: The Red Balloon, White Mane, and Paddle to the Sea. Based on Holling Clancy Holling's wildly-popular 1941 children's book, Paddle-to-the-Sea, William Mason's Oscar-nominated film follows the adventures of a boy who carves a wooden model of an Indian canoe and sets it free at Lake Nipigon, Canada, to travel the five Great Lakes to the Atlantic ocean. As the canoe makes its journey from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean, Mason's film captures the wonder and beauty of nature along the the way. This film rivals The Red Balloon and White Mane in its universal appeal to children of all ages. Highly recommended.

G. Merritt"

Beautiful- my five year old son and I watch it over and over

G. Merritt | 02/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this video! I borrowed it from the local library and we don't want to take it back so I decided to buy it. My son and I have watched it every day for a week. It is so beautiful. It takes you into a magical world. It is so much better than the flashy cartoons you get so often. This is the best kids video we have ever found. I wish it weren't so expensive. This video will delight you if you have any sense of the beauty of nature and the magic world of a child's imagination."

Book - GREAT! Movie - HUGE disappointment! Skip the movie.

R. Koutchak | Anchorage | 04/19/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"My 6 yr. old son and I read this book and loved it. He is Inupiat Eskimo. I am from Michigan. We had a lot to talk about while reading the superb book - from following along the map to the different reactions of those that saw Paddle.In the book, people carve on the bottom wherever he stops so you can see right where he's been. He has really cool and exciting adventures. This made it real. I thought the movie would be a no-brainer, it was nominated for an Oscar, right ? I know the movie was done in 1966, and I know all about "artistic license" and so forth, but...the movie SKIPPED the saw mill scene, the sled dog ride to the Sault, the trip to Chicago, virtually all of Lake Michigan...and had Paddle going from Superior to Detroit in five minutes or less and then out to sea! No wonder it didn't win an Oscar. The only part we all liked was the first ten minutes - where the boy is carving and then places Paddle on the snowy hill...and then he goes downhill. Unfortunately, so does the movie. Literally and figuratively. Nothing more than a Reader's Digest condensed version. This DVD is going in the next yard sale. Even my 6 year old was visably "bummed out". Don't be thinking "oh kids gotta have blood and guts these days" like one reviewer wrote when she read other bad reviews - but they do need a STORY and the movie omitted the real story and instead made it out to be some sort of 60s evironmental "message", while ignoring the Native message which was in the original story. In the book, the news of Paddle making it to sea comes back to the boy, who is now older. He listens to white men take credit for putting it in the sea but it matters not to him because the knowledge that Paddle made it was enough. In the movie, by contrast, Paddle's journey never ends nor is there a tie back to the Native boy who made Paddle. Yuk. It was so bad it made me angry."

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