James MacKay

James MacKay

James MacKay, animator, director, producer (born at Beaverton, Ont 9 Jun 1916; died at Oakville, Ont 26 Oct 2002). Jim MacKay began drawing in high school and attended the Ontario College of Art. As a NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA (NFB) animator for 8 years, he worked with the legendary Norman MCLAREN, who groomed him to be his successor. MacKay was named director of animation in 1945 but resigned from the NFB in 1949 to establish Graphic Associates in Toronto, Canada's first private animation company, with another NFB alumnus, George DUNNING. Graphic Associates made some of the first television commercials in Canada. When Dunning left for England in the mid 1950s, MacKay opened his own shop, Film Design, which he continued to run until his death.

During his tenure at the NFB, he made substantial contributions to the development and applications of new techniques, such as cutout animation. The short, Ron Tunis's The House that Jack Built, which MacKay produced for the NFB with Wolf KOENIG, was nominated for an Oscar in 1969.

Jim MacKay's other NFB films include Stitch and Save (1943), No. 4 from the inventive Let's All Sing Together series (1945), Chantons Noël (1947; producer only), Ten Little Farmers (1947), Stanley Takes a Trip (1947; with Grant MUNRO), Time and Terrain (1948; producer only), Come to the Fair (1949; co-produced) and Teeth Are to Keep (1949).